Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Q3 2024 Results Conference Call October 24, 2024 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Karin Daly - VP, The Equity Group
Kevin Burke - CEO, President
Jeff Miller - CFO
Jeff Hay - Chief Underwriting Officer
Dan Delamater - Chief Operating Officer
Tony Viozzi - Chief Investment Officer

Karin Daly

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. This morning, Donegal Group issued its Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Release outlining its results. The release and a supplemental investor presentation are available in the Investor Relations section of Donegal’s website at www.donegalgroup.com. Please be advised that today’s conference was pre-recorded, and all participants are in listen-only mode.

Speaking today will be President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Burke; Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Miller; Chief Underwriting Officer, Jeff Hay; Chief Operating Officer, Dan DeLamater; and Chief Investment Officer, Tony Viozzi.

Please be aware that statements made during this call that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially. These factors can be found in Donegal Group’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The CCompany disclaims any obligation to update or publicly announce the results of any revisions that they may make to any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.

With that, it is my pleasure to turn it over to Mr. Kevin Burke. Kevin?

Kevin Burke

Thank you Karin, and welcome everyone. In today’s call, we will provide commentary on our quarterly financial results and an update on strategies and actions that we expect will continue to drive favorable results in future periods. We will outline the factors that contributed to the highest level of quarterly earnings we have achieved since 2020. We achieved net income of $16.8 million, or $0.51 per Class A share, despite incurring $6 million of pre-tax catastrophe losses related to Hurricane Helene. We will provide more details about weather-related losses and other key earnings drivers later in the call.

Having completed our strategic non-renewals of all commercial policies in the state of Georgia and Alabama in July, our commercial lines growth in the quarter reflected higher levels of commercial lines new business in targeted states and classes of business, as well as solid renewal premium increases and retention levels. We are now ramping up our small business commercial underwriting strategy for all four of our operating regions to build momentum in small business growth, which will be a key area of focus for us in 2025 and the years ahead. We completed our fourth annual state strategy sessions in August, and we are refining our strategies and action plans as we finalize our 2025 business plan. Our team is fully aligned, and we are looking forward to capitalizing on opportunities for profitable growth in 2025.