NEW YORK - RLI Corp . (NYSE: RLI ) shares fell 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the specialty insurer reported fourth quarter earnings that fell well short of analyst expectations.
The Peoria, Illinois-based company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.41 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by a wide margin. Revenue came in at $439.12 million, also below the $464.46 million analysts were expecting.
RLI's underwriting income dropped sharply to $22.2 million in Q4, compared to $59.8 million in the same period last year. The company's combined ratio, a key measure of underwriting profitability, deteriorated to 94.4% from 82.7% a year ago.
"Despite an active hurricane season and highly competitive environment, we achieved an 86 combined ratio for the full year, marking our 29th consecutive year of underwriting profitability," said RLI Corp. President & CEO Craig Kliethermes.
For the full year 2024, RLI reported net earnings of $345.8 million, or $3.74 per share, up from $304.6 million, or $3.31 per share, in 2023. Gross premiums written increased 11% to $2.01 billion.
The company said Hurricane Milton resulted in a $42.4 million net decrease in underwriting income during the fourth quarter. Despite the earnings miss, RLI maintained its track record of returning capital to shareholders, paying a special dividend of $2.00 per share in December.
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