RLI combined ratio worsens to 82.3% in Q1 driven by casualty
- $0.92 operating EPS beats $0.84 consensus, down from $0.95 in Q1 2024
- 82.3% combined ratio compares to 78.5%, deterioration in both casualty and property
- GPW up 4.8% to $491.1 million; casualty up 13.5%, property down 5.7%, surety down 0.9%
(The Insurer) - RLI Corp has reported a 3.8 point deterioration in its combined ratio for the first quarter, mostly because of its casualty segment, which also drove a 5% increase in the U.S. specialty insurer’s gross premiums written.
Peoria, Illinois-based RLI reported operating earnings for the first quarter of $84.9 million, down from $87.4 million for the same period in 2024.
The $0.92 operating earnings per share beat the $0.84 consensus estimate of 10 analysts as per MarketWatch, and was down from $0.95 in the first quarter of 2024. These figures reflect a two-for-one stock split of common stock executed in January.
RLI achieved $70.5 million of underwriting income in the first quarter of 2025 on an 82.3% combined ratio, compared to $77.7 million on a 78.5% combined ratio in 2024.
The casualty combined ratio worsened 6.0 points to 99.1%, the property combined ratio worsened 1.7 points to 57.1% and the surety combined ratio improved 12.4 points to 68.5%.
Favorable development in prior years’ loss reserves resulted in a $27.4 million net increase to underwriting income in this year’s first quarter, lower than the $37.4 million increase in the same period last year.
This year’s first quarter included $12.0 million of catastrophe losses, the same figure as in last year’s first quarter.
Gross premiums written increased 4.8% to $491.1 million in the quarter, from $468.7 million in the same period of last year.
This included a 13.5% increase in casualty GPW to $278.5 million, and decreases of 5.7% in property GPW to $170.1 million and 0.9% in surety GPW to $42.6 million.
Net investment income for the quarter increased 12% to $36.7 million, with an investment portfolio total return of 1.3% for the quarter.
RLI president and CEO Craig Kliethermes highlighted the 5% GPW growth was “driven by continued momentum” in the casualty segment. He added that “strong margins” in the property and surety segments contributed to the overall combined ratio of 82.3%.
“Coupled with positive investment returns, this led to a 6% increase in book value since year-end 2024,” he said.
