Kinsale posts $5.70 in operating earnings per share as insurance premiums decline
Key Facts
Kinsale Capital Group reported net operating earnings of $128.3 million in the third quarter of 2026 as written premiums declined amid competitive pressure in its property business. Diluted operating earnings per share were $5.70, according to the company's quarterly earnings statement. On a reported basis, Kinsale posted net income of $98.1 million for the same period. That equated to diluted earnings per share of $4.36, according to the statement. The company said repositioning its investment portfolio reduced quarterly pretax earnings by $37.6 million. It added that the transaction "had no impact on book value," defining its effect on reported earnings for the period.
In its insurance business, gross written premiums fell 4.8% in the third quarter from the same period a year earlier, according to Kinsale's statement. The company attributed the decline in premiums across its property divisions to competitive pressures, with those premiums falling 19.3% year on year. Within those operations, the commercial property division recorded a 26.8% decline from the third quarter a year earlier. By contrast, casualty written premiums grew 0.9% during the quarter, with that business expanding while property operations contracted. The company said casualty growth was driven by an increase in the number of accounts it insured. It said that growth was accompanied by a shift in the business mix toward smaller accounts.
Underwriting income totaled $107.1 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to figures Kinsale released with its results for the period. The combined loss and expense ratio was 75.4%, bringing together the components of insurance operating costs during the quarter. The loss ratio was 53.4%, according to the company's quarterly statement. The expense ratio was 22.0%, with Kinsale attributing its increase to lower reinsurance commissions. The company linked those lower commissions to increased risk retention, placing its explanation for higher expenses in the context of its reinsurance arrangements and the amount of risk it retains.
Kinsale operates in the U.S. excess and surplus lines insurance market, according to the description on its investor relations website. It specializes in covering hard-to-insure risks for small and medium-sized businesses, drawing on its underwriting expertise to provide that coverage. Commercial property operations had experienced a steeper decline in the second quarter of 2026, when the division's premiums fell 32.7% from the same period a year earlier. Excluding the commercial property division, written premiums grew 3.7% in that quarter, according to the previous period's earnings statement. The comparison places the current contraction in commercial property premiums in the context of an earlier decline, with the pace of the annual decrease easing in the latest quarter.
Kinsale's total revenue in the third quarter was $454,798 thousand, according to the earnings statement. For the nine months ended September 2026, the company reported net operating earnings of $372.3 million. Kinsale declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.25 per share during the third quarter as part of its shareholder return measures for the period. The company is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter results on a call on Friday, October 23, 2026, according to its earnings call announcement. The call begins at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time.