News Details

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: KNSL) reported net income of $175.9 million, $7.72 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $134.1 million, $5.76 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2025. Net income was $288.4 million, $12.58 per diluted share, for the first half of 2026 compared to $223.3 million, $9.59 per diluted share, for the first half of 2025. Net income included after-tax catastrophe losses of $4.2 million in the second quarter of 2026 and $2.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net income included after-tax catastrophe losses of $5.5 million in the first half of 2026 and $20.8 million in the first half of 2025.

Net operating earnings⁽¹⁾ were $126.2 million, $5.54 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $111.4 million, $4.78 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2025. Net operating earnings⁽¹⁾ were $244.0 million, $10.64 per diluted share, for the first half of 2026 compared to $197.8 million, $8.49 per diluted share, for the first half of 2025.

Highlights for the quarter included:

• Gross written premiums decreased by 5.0% to $527.6 million, and net written premiums decreased by 1.4% to $452.5 million
• Net earned premiums increased by 8.9% to $417.6 million
• Net investment income increased by 19.9% to $55.7 million
• Underwriting income ⁽²⁾ was $105.4 million, resulting in a combined ratio ⁽⁵⁾ of 75.5%
• Annualized return on equity ⁽⁶⁾ was 28.9% for the six months ended June 30, 2026
• Annualized operating return on equity ⁽⁷⁾ was 24.4% for the six months ended June 30, 2026

"We delivered another quarter of exceptional financial results," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael P. Kehoe. "Our business continues to generate consistent and growing underwriting profits and investment income. We are generating significant operating cash flows resulting in excess capital and are pleased to report an additional share repurchase authorization of $250 million. Our focus remains on delivering sustainable long-term value creation for stockholders as we execute our strategy of disciplined underwriting and technology-enabled low costs."

Results of Operations

Underwriting Results

Gross written premiums were $527.6 million for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $555.5 million for the second quarter of 2025, a decrease of 5.0%. Gross written premiums were $1,009.6 million for the first half of 2026 compared to $1,039.8 million for the first half of 2025, a decrease of 2.9%. The decrease in gross written premiums was primarily due to heightened competition in the Commercial Property Division where premiums declined 32.7% and 30.9% in the second quarter and first half of 2026, respectively. Excluding the Commercial Property Division, gross written premiums increased 3.7% for the second quarter of 2026 and 4.8% for the first half of 2026 compared to the prior-year periods, reflecting continued strong submission flow across most divisions and an increase in bound accounts offset in part by lower average premium per policy as a result of heightened competition.

Underwriting income⁽²⁾ was $105.4 million, resulting in a combined ratio⁽⁵⁾ of 75.5% for the second quarter of 2026, compared to $95.5 million and a combined ratio⁽⁵⁾ of 75.8% for the second quarter of 2025. The increase in underwriting income⁽²⁾ was largely due to growth in net earned premiums and higher favorable development of loss reserves from prior accident years offset in part by lower ceding commissions as a result of increased retention on the Company's reinsurance treaties. Loss⁽³⁾ and expense⁽⁴⁾ ratios were 53.8% and 21.7%, respectively, for the second quarter of 2026 compared to 55.1% and 20.7% for the second quarter of 2025.

Underwriting income⁽²⁾ was $199.9 million, resulting in a combined ratio⁽⁵⁾ of 76.4% for the first half of 2026 compared to $162.9 million and a combined ratio⁽⁵⁾ of 78.8% for the first half of 2025. The increase in underwriting income⁽²⁾ was largely due to growth in net earned premiums, lower catastrophe losses and higher favorable development of loss reserves from prior accident years. Loss⁽³⁾ and expense⁽⁴⁾ ratios were 55.0% and 21.4%, respectively, for the first half of 2026 compared to 58.5% and 20.3% for the first half of 2025. The loss ratio for the first half of 2025 included 3.4 points of net catastrophe losses, primarily related to the Palisades Fire.

The increase in the expense ratio for both the second quarter and first half of 2026 compared to the prior-year periods was primarily due to lower ceding commissions as a result of higher retention on the Company’s reinsurance treaties. The economic effect of lower ceding commissions was more than offset by the retention of incremental underwriting margin and higher investment income.

Summary of Operating Results

The Company’s operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 are summarized as follows:

The following table summarizes losses incurred for the current accident year and the development of prior accident years for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025:

Investment Results

Net investment income was $55.7 million in the second quarter of 2026 compared to $46.5 million in the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 19.9%. Net investment income was $111.2 million in the first half of 2026 compared to $90.3 million in the first half of 2025, an increase of 23.1%. These increases were driven by growth in the Company's investment portfolio generated largely from the investment of strong operating cash flows. The Company’s investment portfolio had an annualized gross investment return⁽⁸⁾ of 4.5% and 4.3% for the first half of 2026 and 2025, respectively. Funds are generally invested conservatively in high-quality securities with an average credit quality of "AA-" and the weighted average duration of the fixed-maturity investment portfolio, including cash equivalents, was 4.3 years and 4.0 years at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively. Cash and invested assets totaled $5.5 billion at June 30, 2026 and $5.2 billion at December 31, 2025.

Capital Return to Stockholders

During the second quarter of 2026, the Company repurchased 321,055 shares of its common stock in the open market at an average price of $311.47 per share for a total cost of $100.0 million. In July 2026, the Company's Board of Directors approved an additional $250 million share repurchase authorization, bringing the remaining capacity to $337.5 million under the share repurchase program.

During the second quarter of 2026, the Company declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock for a total distribution of $5.7 million.

Other

The effective tax rates for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and June 30, 2025 were 19.8% and 20.4%, respectively. In the first half of 2026 and 2025, the effective tax rates were lower than the federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the tax benefits from stock-based compensation, including stock options exercised, and from tax-exempt investment income.

Stockholders' equity was $2.0 billion at both June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. Book value per share was $89.34 at June 30, 2026 compared to $84.66 at December 31, 2025. Annualized operating return on equity⁽⁷⁾ was 24.4% for the first half of 2026, a decrease from 24.7% for the first half of 2025. The decrease was due primarily to higher average stockholders' equity offset in part by higher profitability compared to the prior-year period.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Net Operating Earnings

Net operating earnings is defined as net income excluding the effects of the change in the fair value of equity securities, after taxes, net realized investment gains and losses, after taxes, and change in allowance for credit losses on investments, after taxes. Management believes the exclusion of these items provides a useful comparison of the Company's underlying business performance from period to period. Net operating earnings and percentages or calculations using net operating earnings (e.g., diluted operating earnings per share and annualized operating return on equity) are non-GAAP financial measures. Net operating earnings should not be viewed as a substitute for net income calculated in accordance with GAAP, and other companies may define net operating earnings differently.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, net income and diluted earnings per share reconcile to net operating earnings and diluted operating earnings per share as follows:

Underwriting Income

Underwriting income is defined as net income excluding net investment income, the change in the fair value of equity securities, net realized investment gains and losses, change in allowance for credit losses on investments, interest expense, other expenses, other income and income tax expense. The Company uses underwriting income as an internal performance measure in the management of its operations because the Company believes it gives management and users of the Company's financial information useful insight into the Company's results of operations and underlying business performance. Underwriting income should not be viewed as a substitute for net income calculated in accordance with GAAP, and other companies may define underwriting income differently.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, net income reconciles to underwriting income as follows:

Conference Call

Kinsale Capital Group will hold a conference call to discuss this press release on Friday, July 24, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). Members of the public may access the conference call by dialing (833) 461-5787, conference ID# 761838118, or via the Internet by going to www.kinsalecapitalgroup.com and clicking on the "Investor Relations" link. A replay of the call will be available on the website.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, such forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "outlook," "future," "will," "would," "should," "could," "may," "can have," "prospects" or similar words. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors, they include, among others, the following: inadequate loss reserves to cover the Company's actual losses; inherent uncertainty of models resulting in actual losses that are materially different than the Company's estimates; adverse economic factors; a decline in the Company's financial strength rating; loss of one or more key executives; loss of a group of brokers that generate significant portions of the Company's business; failure of any of the loss limitations or exclusions the Company employs, or change in other claims or coverage issues; adverse performance of the Company's investment portfolio; adverse market conditions that affect its excess and surplus lines insurance operations; and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

About Kinsale Capital Group, Inc.

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. is a specialty insurance group headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, focusing on the excess and surplus lines market.