Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:KNSL) Q1 2024 Results Conference Call April 26, 2024 9:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Michael Kehoe - Chief Executive Officer and President
Bryan Petrucelli - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Brian Haney - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Conference Call Participants
Mark Hughes - Truist
Andrew Andersen - Jefferies
Bill Carcache - Wolfe Research
Pablo Singzon - JPMorgan
Operator
Before we get started, let me remind everyone that, through the course of the teleconference, Kinsale's management may make comments that reflect their intentions, beliefs and expectations for the future. As always, these forward-looking statements are subject to certain risk factors which could cause actual results to differ materially.
These risk factors are listed in the company's various SEC filings, including the 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which should be reviewed carefully. The company has furnished a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission that contains the press release announcing its first quarter results.
Kinsale's management may also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures in the call today. A reconciliation of GAAP to these measures can be found in the press release which is available on the company's website at www.kinsalecapitalgroup.com.
I will now turn the conference over to Kinsale's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Michael Kehoe. Please go ahead, sir.
Michael Kehoe
Thank you, operator. And good morning, everyone. As is our usual approach, Bryan Petrucelli, our CFO; and Brian Haney, our President and COO, and I will each offer a few remarks. And then we'll move on to Q&A.
In the first quarter of 2024, Kinsale's operating earnings per share increased by 43.4% and gross written premium grew by 25.5% over the first quarter of 2023. For the quarter, the company posted a combined ratio of 79.5% and it posted an operating return on equity of 28.9%. The company's strategy of disciplined E&S underwriting and technology enabled low costs drive these results and allows us to generate attractive returns and take market share from competitors at the same time.
As just mentioned, growth in gross written premium in the first quarter to 25.5% from 33.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and down from the 40% growth we've experienced over the last several years. This deceleration over the last couple of quarters is mostly driven by the property market's return to a normal level of competition from the crisis like environment in 2022 early 2023.