AMERISAFE, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call October 27, 2022 10:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Kathryn Shirley - Chief Administrative Officer
Janelle Frost - President and CEO
Andy Omiridis - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Mark Hughes - Truist
Matt Carletti - JMP
Operator
Good day. And welcome to the AMERISAFE 2022 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Today’s conference is being recorded.
At this time, I’d like to turn the conference over to Kathryn Shirley, Chief Administrative Officer. Please go ahead.
Kathryn Shirley
Good morning. And welcome to the AMERISAFE 2022 third quarter investor call. If you have not received the earnings release, it is available on our website at amerisafe.com. This call is being recorded. A replay of today’s call will be available. Details on how to access the replay are in the earnings release.
During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied in these statements if the underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or as the result of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors discussed in today’s earnings release, in the comments made during this call and in the Risk Factors section of our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements.
I will now turn the call over to Janelle Frost, AMERISAFE’s President and CEO.
Janelle Frost
Thank you, Kathryn, and good morning, everyone. I’d like to take this opportunity to virtually welcome Andy Omiridis, our new CFO. As previously announced, Andy joined the team in September and has been working with Neal as he transitions to retirement. So welcome, Andy.
Moving on to the quarter, we are pleased with this quarter’s results, reporting an 85.4% combined ratio and an operating ROE of 14.4%. The quarter’s results were supported by favorable prior year development, an increase in net investment income due to higher interest rates and strong audit premiums.
Premium written is up for the second consecutive quarter, with the current quarter written premium up 1.5% primarily due to audit premium. Wage inflation continues to be the primary driver for payrolls, with our payrolls up significantly from the same period last year.
In maintaining our operational effectiveness, we were successful in retaining 93.5% of the accounts for which we offered renewal. Our overall pricing, as measured by our ELCM was 153, identical to the third quarter of 2021.