Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Item 2.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
We recommend that you read the following information in conjunction with the historical financial information and the footnotes to that financial information we include in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We
also recommend you read Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We combine our financial statements with those of our insurance subsidiaries and present them on a consolidated basis in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”).
Our insurance subsidiaries make estimates and assumptions that can have a significant effect on amounts and disclosures we report in our financial statements. The most significant estimates relate to the
liabilities of our insurance subsidiaries for property and casualty insurance losses and loss expenses. While we believe our estimates and the estimates of our insurance subsidiaries are appropriate, the ultimate amounts may differ from the
estimates we provided. We regularly review our methods for making these estimates and we reflect any adjustment we consider necessary in our results of operations for the period in which we make an adjustment.
Liabilities for Losses and Loss Expenses
Liabilities for losses and loss expenses are estimates at a given point in time of the amounts an insurer expects to pay with respect to incurred policyholder claims based on facts and circumstances the insurer
knows at that point in time. For example, legislative, judicial and regulatory actions may expand coverage definitions, retroactively mandate coverage or otherwise require our insurance subsidiaries to pay losses for damages that their policies
explicitly excluded or did not intend to cover. At the time of establishing its estimates, an insurer recognizes that its ultimate liability for losses and loss expenses will exceed or be less than such estimates. Our insurance subsidiaries
base their estimates of liabilities for losses and loss expenses on assumptions as to future loss trends, expected claims severity, judicial theories of liability and other factors. However, during the loss adjustment period, our insurance
subsidiaries may learn additional facts regarding individual claims, and, consequently, it often becomes necessary for our insurance subsidiaries to refine and adjust their estimates for these liabilities. We reflect any adjustments to the
liabilities for losses and loss expenses of our insurance subsidiaries in our consolidated results of operations in the period in which our insurance subsidiaries make adjustments to their estimates.
Our insurance subsidiaries maintain liabilities for the payment of losses and loss expenses with respect to both reported and unreported claims. Our insurance subsidiaries establish these liabilities for the
purpose of covering the ultimate costs of settling all losses, including investigation and litigation costs. Our insurance subsidiaries base the amount of their liability for reported losses primarily upon a case-by-case evaluation of the type
of risk involved, knowledge of the circumstances surrounding each claim and the insurance policy provisions relating to the type of loss the policyholder incurred. Our insurance subsidiaries determine the amount of their liability for
unreported claims and loss expenses on the basis of historical information by line of insurance. Our insurance subsidiaries account for inflation in the reserving function through analysis of costs and trends and reviews of historical reserving
results. Our insurance subsidiaries monitor their liabilities closely and recompute them periodically using new information on reported claims and a variety of statistical techniques. Our insurance subsidiaries do not discount their liabilities
for losses and loss expenses.
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Index
Reserve estimates can change over time because of unexpected changes in assumptions related to our insurance subsidiaries’ external environment and, to a lesser extent, assumptions related to our insurance
subsidiaries’ internal operations. For example, our insurance subsidiaries have experienced an increase in claims severity and a lengthening of the claim settlement periods on bodily injury claims during the past several years. In addition, the
COVID-19 pandemic and related government mandates and restrictions resulted in various changes from historical claims reporting and settlement trends during 2020 and resulted in significant increases in loss costs in subsequent years due to a
number of factors, including supply chain disruption, higher new and used automobile values, increases in the cost of replacement automobile parts and rising labor rates. These trend changes caused significant disruption to historical loss
patterns and give rise to greater uncertainty as to the pattern of future loss settlements. Related uncertainties regarding future trends include social inflation, availability and cost of replacement automobile parts and building materials,
availability and cost of skilled labor, the rate of specialized plaintiff attorney involvement in claims, increasing plaintiff attorney utilization of litigation financing and its impact on litigation strategies and the cost of medical
technologies and procedures. Assumptions related to our insurance subsidiaries’ external environment include the absence of significant changes in tort law and the legal environment that increase liability exposure, consistency in judicial
interpretations of insurance coverage and policy provisions and the rate of loss cost inflation. Internal assumptions include consistency in the recording of premium and loss statistics, consistency in the recording of claims, payment and case
reserving methodology, accurate measurement of the impact of rate changes and changes in policy provisions, consistency in the quality and characteristics of business written within a given line of business and consistency in reinsurance
coverage and collectability of reinsured losses, among other items. To the extent our insurance subsidiaries determine that underlying factors impacting their assumptions have changed, our insurance subsidiaries make adjustments in their
reserves that they consider appropriate for such changes. Accordingly, our insurance subsidiaries’ ultimate liability for unpaid losses and loss expenses will likely differ from the amount recorded at September 30, 2025. At September 30, 2025,
for every 1% change in our insurance subsidiaries’ loss and loss expense reserves, net of reinsurance recoverable, the effect on our pre-tax results of operations would be approximately $7.2 million.
The establishment of appropriate liabilities is an inherently uncertain process and we can provide no assurance that our insurance subsidiaries’ ultimate liability will not exceed our insurance subsidiaries’ loss
and loss expense reserves and have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, we cannot predict the timing, frequency and extent of adjustments to our insurance subsidiaries’ estimated future
liabilities, because the historical conditions and events that serve as a basis for our insurance subsidiaries’ estimates of ultimate claim costs may change. As is the case for substantially all property and casualty insurance companies, our
insurance subsidiaries have found it necessary in the past to increase their estimated future liabilities for losses and loss expenses in certain periods and, in other periods, their estimated future liabilities for losses and loss expenses
have exceeded their actual liabilities for losses and loss expenses. Changes in our insurance subsidiaries’ estimates of their liability for losses and loss expenses generally reflect actual payments and their evaluation of information received
subsequent to the prior reporting period.
Excluding the impact of severe weather events and the COVID-19 pandemic, our insurance subsidiaries have noted stable amounts in the number of claims incurred and the number of claims outstanding at period ends
relative to their premium base in recent years across most of their lines of business. However, the amount of the average claim outstanding has increased gradually over the past several years due to various factors such as increased property
and automobile repair and replacement costs, rising medical loss costs and increased litigation trends and lengthening of repair completion times for property and automobile claims. We have also experienced a general slowing of settlement rates
in litigated claims. Our insurance subsidiaries could have to make further adjustments to their estimates in the future. However, on the basis of our insurance subsidiaries’ internal procedures, which analyze, among other things, their prior
assumptions, their experience with similar cases and historical trends such as reserving patterns, loss payments, pending levels of unpaid claims and product mix, as well as court decisions, economic conditions and public attitudes, we believe
that our insurance subsidiaries have made adequate provision for their liability for losses and loss expenses.
Atlantic States’ participation in the underwriting pool with Donegal Mutual exposes Atlantic States to adverse loss development on the business that Donegal Mutual contributes to the underwriting pool. However,
pooled business represents the predominant percentage of the net underwriting activity of both companies, and Donegal Mutual and Atlantic States share proportionately any adverse loss development relating to the pooled business. The business in
the underwriting pool is homogeneous and each company has a pro-rata share of the entire underwriting pool. Since the predominant percentage of the business of Atlantic States and Donegal Mutual is pooled and the results shared by each company
according to its participation level under the terms of the pooling agreement, the intent of the underwriting pool is to produce a more uniform and stable underwriting result from year to year for each company than either would experience
individually and to spread the risk of loss between the companies.
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Index
Our insurance subsidiaries’ liabilities for losses and loss expenses by major line of business at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024 consisted of the following:
September 30,
2025
December 31,
2024
(in thousands)
Commercial lines:
Automobile
$
179,202
$
180,757
Workers’ compensation
133,135
129,406
Commercial multi-peril
217,279
208,676
Other
48,863
39,336
Total commercial lines
578,479
558,175
Personal lines:
Automobile
107,266
116,693
Homeowners
26,666
26,591
Other
2,635
2,905
Total personal lines
136,567
146,189
Total commercial and personal lines
715,046
704,364
Plus reinsurance recoverable
399,256
416,621
Total liabilities for losses and loss expenses
$
1,114,302
$
1,120,985
We have evaluated the effect on our insurance subsidiaries’ loss and loss expense reserves and our stockholders’ equity in the event of reasonably likely changes in the variables we consider in establishing the
loss and loss expense reserves of our insurance subsidiaries. We established the range of reasonably likely changes based on a review of changes in accident-year development by line of business and applied those changes to our insurance
subsidiaries’ loss and loss expense reserves as a whole. The range we selected does not necessarily indicate what could be the potential best or worst case or the most likely scenario. The following table sets forth the estimated effect on our
insurance subsidiaries’ loss and loss expense reserves and our stockholders’ equity in the event of reasonably likely changes in the variables we considered in establishing the loss and loss expense reserves of our insurance subsidiaries:
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Index
Percentage Change in Loss
and Loss Expense Reserves
Net of Reinsurance
Adjusted Loss and Loss
Expense Reserves Net of
Reinsurance at
September 30, 2025
Percentage Change
in Stockholders’ Equity at
September 30, 2025(1)
Adjusted Loss and Loss
Expense Reserves Net of
Reinsurance at
December 31, 2024
Percentage Change
in Stockholders’ Equity at
December 31, 2024(1)
(dollars in thousands)
(10.0)%
$643,541
9.0%
$633,928
10.2%
(7.5)
661,418
6.8
651,537
7.6
(5.0)
679,294
4.5
669,146
5.1
(2.5)
697,170
2.3
686,755
2.5
Base
715,046
—
704,364
—
2.5
732,922
(2.3)
721,973
(2.5)
5.0
750,798
(4.5)
739,582
(5.1)
7.5
768,674
(6.8)
757,191
(7.6)
10.0
786,551
(9.0)
774,800
(10.2)
(1)
Net of income tax effect.
Non-GAAP Information
We prepare our consolidated financial statements on the basis of GAAP. Our insurance subsidiaries also prepare financial statements based on statutory accounting principles state insurance regulators prescribe or
permit (“SAP”). SAP financial measures are considered non-GAAP financial measures under applicable SEC rules because the SAP financial measures include or exclude certain items that the most comparable GAAP financial measures do not ordinarily
include or exclude. Our calculation of non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures other companies use, so investors should exercise caution when comparing our non-GAAP financial measures to the non-GAAP financial measures
other companies use.
Because our insurance subsidiaries do not prepare GAAP financial statements, we evaluate the performance of our personal lines and commercial lines segments utilizing SAP financial measures that reflect the growth
trends and underwriting results of our insurance subsidiaries. The SAP financial measures we utilize are net premiums written and statutory combined ratio.
Net Premiums Written
We define net premiums written as the amount of full-term premiums our insurance subsidiaries record for policies effective within a given period less premiums our insurance subsidiaries cede to reinsurers. Net
premiums earned is the most comparable GAAP financial measure to net premiums written. Net premiums earned represent the sum of the amount of net premiums written and the change in net unearned premiums during a given period. Our insurance
subsidiaries earn premiums and recognize them as revenue over the terms of their policies, which are one year or less in duration. Therefore, increases or decreases in net premiums earned generally reflect increases or decreases in net premiums
written in the preceding 12-month period compared to the comparable period one year earlier.
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Index
The following tables provide reconciliations of our net premiums earned to our net premiums written for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024:
Three Months Ended September 30, 2025
Commercial
Lines
Personal
Lines
Total
(in thousands)
Net premiums earned
$
140,289
$
89,533
$
229,822
Change in net unearned premiums
(9,905
)
(302
)
(10,207
)
Net premiums written
$
130,384
$
89,231
$
219,615
Three Months Ended September 30, 2024
Commercial
Lines
Personal
Lines
Total
(in thousands)
Net premiums earned
$
136,401
$
101,556
$
237,957
Change in net unearned premiums
(10,300
)
4,551
(5,749
)
Net premiums written
$
126,101
$
106,107
$
232,208
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025
Commercial
Lines
Personal
Lines
Total
(in thousands)
Net premiums earned
$
415,032
$
279,267
$
694,299
Change in net unearned premiums
20,884
(14,662
)
6,222
Net premiums written
$
435,916
$
264,605
$
700,521
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024
Commercial
Lines
Personal
Lines
Total
(in thousands)
Net premiums earned
$
402,982
$
297,035
$
700,017
Change in net unearned premiums
20,861
9,961
30,822
Net premiums written
$
423,843
$
306,996
$
730,839
Statutory Combined Ratio
The combined ratio is a standard measurement of underwriting profitability for an insurance company. The combined ratio does not reflect investment income, net investment gains or losses, federal income taxes or
other non-operating income or expense. A combined ratio of less than 100% generally indicates underwriting profitability.
The statutory combined ratio is a non-GAAP financial measure that is based upon amounts determined under SAP. We calculate our statutory combined ratio as the sum of:
•
the statutory loss ratio, which is the ratio of calendar-year net incurred losses and loss expenses to net premiums earned;
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Index
•
the statutory expense ratio, which is the ratio of expenses incurred for net commissions, premium taxes and underwriting expenses to net premiums written; and
•
the statutory dividend ratio, which is the ratio of dividends to holders of workers’ compensation policies to net premiums earned.
The calculation of our statutory combined ratio differs from the calculation of our GAAP combined ratio. In calculating our GAAP combined ratio, we do not deduct installment payment fees from incurred expenses, and
we base the expense ratio on net premiums earned instead of net premiums written. Differences between our GAAP loss ratio and our statutory loss ratio result from anticipating salvage and subrogation recoveries for our GAAP loss ratio but not
for our statutory loss ratio.
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Index
Combined Ratios
The following table presents comparative details with respect to our GAAP and statutory combined ratios for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024:
Three Months Ended September 30,
Nine Months Ended September 30,
2025
2024
2025
2024
GAAP Combined Ratios (Total Lines)
Loss ratio - core losses
51.1
%
50.1
%
51.8
%
54.5
%
Loss ratio - weather-related losses
6.2
10.3
7.0
8.6
Loss ratio - large fire losses
4.4
3.7
4.3
5.2
Loss ratio - net prior-year reserve development
0.4
(2.6
)
(1.8
)
(2.2
)
Loss ratio
62.1
61.5
61.3
66.1
Expense ratio
33.5
34.5
33.4
34.0
Dividend ratio
0.3
0.4
0.4
0.5
Combined ratio
95.9
%
96.4
%
95.1
%
100.6
%
Statutory Combined Ratios
Commercial lines:
Automobile
100.9
%
101.5
%
96.7
%
98.2
%
Workers’ compensation
103.9
84.7
108.7
104.1
Commercial multi-peril
91.6
88.4
93.1
100.4
Other
87.5
59.4
96.2
78.4
Total commercial lines
96.6
89.8
97.3
98.6
Personal lines:
Automobile
91.2
97.8
85.1
97.8
Homeowners
102.1
116.8
100.0
107.5
Other
52.8
102.2
54.9
97.2
Total personal lines
94.1
104.7
89.6
101.2
Total commercial and personal lines
95.5
%
96.0
%
94.4
%
99.7
%
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Index
Results of Operations - Three Months Ended September 30, 2025 Compared to Three Months Ended September 30, 2024
Net Premiums Earned. Our insurance subsidiaries’ net premiums earned for the third quarter of 2025 were $229.8 million, a decrease of $8.2 million, or 3.4%, compared to
$238.0 million for the third quarter of 2024, primarily reflecting planned attrition and lower new business writings, offset partially by solid premium retention and renewal premium increases.
Net Premiums Written. Our insurance subsidiaries’ net premiums written for the third quarter of 2025 were $219.6 million, a decrease of $12.6 million, or 5.4%, from the
$232.2 million of net premiums written for the third quarter of 2024. Commercial lines net premiums written increased $4.3 million, or 3.4%, for the third quarter of 2025 compared to the third quarter of 2024. Personal lines net premiums
written decreased $16.9 million, or 15.9%, for the third quarter of 2025 compared to the third quarter of 2024. We attribute the increase in commercial lines net premiums written primarily to solid retention and a continuation of renewal
premium increases in lines other than workers’ compensation, offset partially by lower new business writings. We attribute the decrease in personal lines net premiums written primarily to lower new business writings and non-renewal actions,
offset partially by renewal premium rate increases and solid retention.
Investment Income. Our net investment income was $13.9 million for the third quarter of 2025, an increase of $3.1 million, or 28.8%, compared to $10.8 million for the third
quarter of 2024. We attribute the increase primarily to an increase in the average investment yield relative to the third quarter of 2024.
Net Investment Gains. Net investment gains for the third quarter of 2025 were $1.3 million, compared to $1.9 million for the third quarter of 2024. The net investment gains
for the third quarter of 2025 were primarily related to unrealized gains in the fair value of equity securities held at September 30, 2025, offset partially by net realized investment losses on the strategic sales of available-for-sale
fixed-maturity securities. The net investment gains for the third quarter of 2024 were primarily related to unrealized gains in the fair value of equity securities held at September 30, 2024. We did not recognize any impairment losses for
individual securities in our investment portfolio during the third quarter of 2025 or 2024.
Losses and Loss Expenses. Our insurance subsidiaries’ loss ratio, which is the ratio of incurred losses and loss expenses to premiums earned, was 62.1% for the third quarter
of 2025, a slight increase from our insurance subsidiaries’ loss ratio of 61.5% for the third quarter of 2024. The core loss ratio, which excludes weather-related losses, large fire losses and net development of reserves for losses incurred in
prior accident years, was 51.1% for the third quarter of 2025, an increase from the core loss ratio of 50.1% for the third quarter of 2024. For the commercial lines segment, the core loss ratio of 54.0% for the third quarter of 2025 increased
from 48.5% for the third quarter of 2024. For the personal lines segment, the core loss ratio of 46.6% for the third quarter of 2025 decreased from 52.5% for the third quarter of 2024. We attribute the increase in the commercial lines core loss
ratio primarily to an increase in the severity of casualty losses. We attribute the decrease in the personal lines core loss ratio primarily to the favorable impact of premium rate increases on net premiums earned for the personal lines
segment. Weather-related losses were $14.3 million, or 6.2 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the third quarter of 2025, compared to $24.4 million, or 10.3 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the third quarter of 2024. The impact of
weather-related loss activity to the loss ratio for the third quarter of 2025 was lower than our previous five-year average of third quarter weather-related losses and represented the lowest of any third quarter in the past 20 years. Large fire
losses, which we define as individual fire losses in excess of $50,000, for the third quarter of 2025 were $10.0 million, or 4.4 percentage points of the loss ratio, compared to $8.8 million, or 3.7 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the
third quarter of 2024. Our insurance subsidiaries’ commercial lines loss ratio was 59.6% for the third quarter of 2025, compared to 52.1% for the third quarter of 2024, primarily due to increases in the workers’ compensation and commercial
multi-peril loss ratios. The personal lines loss ratio of our insurance subsidiaries decreased to 66.0% for the third quarter of 2025, compared to 74.2% for the third quarter of 2024. We attribute this decrease primarily to a decrease in the
homeowners and personal automobile loss ratios. Our insurance subsidiaries experienced net unfavorable loss reserve development for the third quarter of 2025 of $1.0 million that increased the loss ratio by 0.4 percentage points, compared to
$6.2 million of net favorable loss reserve development that decreased the loss ratio for the third quarter of 2024 by 2.6 percentage points. Our insurance subsidiaries experienced unfavorable development primarily in the personal automobile and
other commercial lines of business for the third quarter of 2025 that we primarily attribute to higher-than-anticipated case reserve development, offset partially by favorable development in the commercial multi-peril and workers’ compensation
lines of business.
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Index
Underwriting Expenses. The expense ratio for an insurance company is the ratio of policy acquisition costs and other underwriting expenses to premiums earned. The expense
ratio of our insurance subsidiaries was 33.5% for the third quarter of 2025, compared to 34.5% for the third quarter of 2024. The decrease in the expense ratio primarily reflected the favorable impact of ongoing expense management initiatives
and lower underwriting-based incentive costs for agents and employees. The impact of underwriting-based incentive costs for the third quarter of 2024 was somewhat elevated due to the substantial improvement in underwriting results for that
period compared to the first half of 2024. The impact from allocated costs from Donegal Mutual to our insurance subsidiaries related to the ongoing systems modernization project peaked at approximately 1.3 percentage points of the expense ratio
for the full year of 2024, and we expect that impact to subside gradually over the next several years. Allocated costs related to that project represented approximately 1.2 percentage points of the expense ratio for the third quarter of 2025.
Combined Ratio. The combined ratio represents the sum of the loss ratio, the expense ratio and the dividend ratio, which is the ratio of policyholder dividends incurred to
premiums earned. Our insurance subsidiaries’ combined ratios were 95.9% and 96.4% for the third quarter of 2025 and 2024, respectively. We attribute the decrease in the combined ratio primarily to a decrease in the expense ratio for the third
quarter of 2025 compared to the third quarter of 2024.
Income Tax Expense. We recorded income tax expense of $5.0 million for the third quarter of 2025, representing an effective tax rate of 19.8%. We recorded income tax expense
of $3.7 million for the third quarter of 2024, representing an effective tax rate of 17.9%. The income tax expense for the third quarter of 2025 and 2024 represented estimates based on our projected annual taxable income and effective tax
rates.
Net Income and Net Income Per Share. Our net income for the third quarter of 2025 was $20.1 million, or $.55 per share of Class A common stock on a diluted basis and $.51
per share of Class B common stock, compared to $16.8 million, or $.51 per share of Class A common stock on a diluted basis and $.46 per share of Class B common stock, for the third quarter of 2024. We had 31.0 million and 28.2 million Class A
shares outstanding at September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. We had 5.6 million Class B shares outstanding at the end of both periods.
Results of Operations - Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025 Compared to Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024
Net Premiums Earned. Our insurance subsidiaries’ net premiums earned for the first nine months of 2025 were $694.3 million, a decrease of $5.7 million, or 0.8%, compared to
$700.0 million for the first nine months of 2024, primarily reflecting lower new business writings and non-renewal actions, offset partially by solid premium retention and renewal premium increases.
Net Premiums Written. Our insurance subsidiaries’ net premiums written for the first nine months of 2025 were $700.5 million, a decrease of $30.3 million, or 4.1%, from the
$730.8 million of net premiums written for the first nine months of 2024. Commercial lines net premiums written increased $12.1 million, or 2.8%, for the first nine months of 2025 compared to the first nine months of 2024. Personal lines net
premiums written decreased $42.4 million, or 13.8%, for the first nine months of 2025 compared to the first nine months of 2024. We attribute the increase in commercial lines net premiums written primarily to solid retention and a continuation
of renewal premium increases in lines other than workers’ compensation, offset partially by lower new business writings. We attribute the decrease in personal lines net premiums written primarily to lower new business writings and non-renewal
actions, offset partially by renewal premium rate increases and solid retention.
Investment Income. Our net investment income was $38.5 million for the first nine months of 2025, an increase of $5.6 million, or 17.0%, compared to $32.9 million for the
first nine months of 2024. We attribute the increase primarily to an increase in the average investment yield relative to the first nine months of 2024.
Net Investment Gains. Net investment gains for the first nine months of 2025 were $2.3 million, compared to $4.7 million for the first nine months of 2024. The net
investment gains for the first nine months of 2025 primarily related to unrealized gains in the fair value of equity securities held at September 30, 2025, offset partially by net realized investment losses on the sale of available-for-sale
fixed-maturity securities. The net investment gains for the first nine months of 2024 primarily related to unrealized gains in the fair value of our equity securities portfolio at September 30, 2024. We did not recognize any impairment losses
for individual securities in our investment portfolio during the first nine months of 2025 or 2024.
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Index
Losses and Loss Expenses. Our insurance subsidiaries’ loss ratio, which is the ratio of incurred losses and loss expenses to premiums earned, was 61.3% for the first nine
months of 2025, a decrease from our insurance subsidiaries’ loss ratio of 66.1% for the first nine months of 2024. The core loss ratio, which excludes weather-related losses, large fire losses and net development of reserves for losses incurred
in prior accident years, was 51.8% for the first nine months of 2025, compared to 54.5% for the first nine months of 2024. For the commercial lines segment, the core loss ratio of 55.6% for the first nine months of 2025 increased modestly from
54.1% for the first nine months of 2024. For the personal lines segment, the core loss ratio of 46.2% for the first nine months of 2025 decreased from 55.2% for the first nine months of 2024. We attribute the decrease in the personal lines core
loss ratio primarily to the favorable impact of premium rate increases on net premiums earned for the personal lines segment. Weather-related losses were $48.7 million, or 7.0 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the first nine months of
2025, compared to $60.0 million, or 8.6 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the first nine months of 2024. Large fire losses for the first nine months of 2025 were $29.8 million, or 4.3 percentage points of the loss ratio, compared to
$36.2 million, or 5.2 percentage points of the loss ratio, for the first nine months of 2024. Our insurance subsidiaries’ commercial lines loss ratio was 61.7% for the first nine months of 2025, compared to 62.6% for the first nine months of
2024, primarily due to a decrease in the commercial multi-peril loss ratio. The personal lines loss ratio of our insurance subsidiaries decreased to 60.7% for the first nine months of 2025, compared to 70.8% for the first nine months of 2024.
We attribute this decrease primarily to decreases in the personal automobile and homeowners loss ratios. Our insurance subsidiaries experienced net favorable loss reserve development for the first nine months of 2025 of approximately $12.5
million that decreased the loss ratio by 1.8 percentage points, compared to $15.4 million that decreased the loss ratio for the first nine months of 2024 by 2.2 percentage points. Our insurance subsidiaries experienced favorable development
primarily in the commercial multi-peril, commercial automobile, personal automobile, and homeowners lines of business for the first nine months of 2025, offset partially by unfavorable development in other commercial lines of business that we
attribute to higher-than-anticipated case reserve development.
Underwriting Expenses. The expense ratio for an insurance company is the ratio of policy acquisition costs and other underwriting expenses to premiums earned. The expense
ratio of our insurance subsidiaries was 33.4% for the first nine months of 2025, compared to 34.0% for the first nine months of 2024. The decrease in the expense ratio primarily reflected impacts of expense management initiatives, offset
partially by higher underwriting-based incentive costs for agents and employees. The impact from allocated costs from Donegal Mutual to our insurance subsidiaries related to the ongoing systems modernization project peaked at approximately 1.3
percentage points of the expense ratio for the full year of 2024, and we expect the full year 2025 expense ratio impact will be approximately 1.2 percentage points.
Combined Ratio. The combined ratio represents the sum of the loss ratio, the expense ratio and the dividend ratio, which is the ratio of policyholder dividends incurred to
premiums earned. Our insurance subsidiaries’ combined ratios were 95.1% and 100.6% for the first nine months of 2025 and 2024, respectively. We attribute the decrease in the combined ratio primarily to a decrease in the loss ratio for the first
nine months of 2025 compared to the first nine months of 2024.
Income Tax Expense. We recorded income tax expense of $14.5 million for the first nine months of 2025, representing an effective tax rate of 18.9%. We recorded income tax
expense of $5.8 million for the first nine months of 2024, representing an effective tax rate of 17.8%. The income tax expense for the first nine months of 2025 and 2024 represented estimates based on our projected annual taxable income and
effective tax rates.
Net Income and Net Income Per Share. Our net income for the first nine months of 2025 was $62.2 million, or $1.72 per share of Class A common stock on a diluted basis and
$1.58 per share of Class B common stock, compared to $26.9 million, or $.81 per share of Class A common stock on a diluted basis and $.74 per share of Class B common stock, for the first nine months of 2024. We had 31.0 million and 28.2 million
Class A shares outstanding at September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. We had 5.6 million Class B shares outstanding at the end of both periods.
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Index
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Liquidity is a measure of an entity’s ability to secure enough cash to meet its contractual obligations and operating needs as such obligations and needs arise. Our major sources of funds from operations are the
net cash flows we generate from our insurance subsidiaries’ underwriting results, investment income and maturing investments.
We have historically generated sufficient net positive cash flow to fund our commitments and add to our investment portfolio, thereby increasing future investment returns. The impact of the pooling agreement
between Donegal Mutual and Atlantic States has historically been cash-flow positive because of the consistent underwriting profitability of the underwriting pool. Because we settle the pool monthly, our cash flows are substantially similar to
the cash flows that would result from the underwriting of direct business. We maintain a high degree of liquidity in our investment portfolio in the form of marketable fixed maturities, equity securities and short-term investments. We structure
our fixed-maturity investment portfolio following a “laddering” approach, so that projected cash flows from investment income and principal maturities are evenly distributed from a timing perspective. This laddering approach provides an
additional measure of liquidity to meet our obligations and the obligations of our insurance subsidiaries should an unexpected variation occur in the future. Net cash flows provided by operating activities in the first nine months of 2025 and
2024 were $60.2 million and $39.2 million, respectively.
At September 30, 2025, we had no outstanding borrowings under our line of credit with M&T and had the ability to borrow up to $20.0 million at an interest rate equal to the then-current Term SOFR rate plus
2.11%. At September 30, 2025, Atlantic States had a $35.0 million outstanding advance with the FHLB of Pittsburgh that carries a fixed interest rate of 3.806% and is due in September 2026. We discuss in Note 7 – Borrowings our estimate of the
timing of the amounts payable for the borrowings under our lines of credit based on their contractual maturities.
We estimate the timing of claim payments associated with the liabilities for losses and loss expenses of our insurance subsidiaries based on historical experience and expectations of future payment patterns.
Amounts Atlantic States assumes pursuant to the pooling agreement with Donegal Mutual represent a substantial portion of our insurance subsidiaries’ gross liabilities for losses and loss expenses, and amounts Atlantic States cedes pursuant to
the pooling agreement represent a substantial portion of our insurance subsidiaries’ reinsurance recoverable on unpaid losses and loss expenses. We include cash settlement of Atlantic States’ assumed liabilities from the pool in monthly
settlements of pooled activity, as we net amounts ceded to and assumed from the pool. Although Donegal Mutual and we do not anticipate any changes in the pool participation levels in the foreseeable future, any such change would be prospective
in nature and therefore would not impact the timing of expected payments by Atlantic States for its percentage share of pooled losses occurring in periods prior to the effective date of such change.
On July 18, 2013, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which we have the authority to purchase up to 500,000 shares of our Class A common stock at prices prevailing from time to
time in the open market subject to the provisions of applicable rules of the SEC Rule 10b-18 and in privately negotiated transactions. We did not purchase any shares of our Class A common stock under this program during the nine months ended
September 30, 2025 or 2024. We have purchased a total of 57,658 shares of our Class A common stock under this program from its inception through September 30, 2025.
On October 16, 2025, our board of directors declared quarterly cash dividends of $.1825 per share of our Class A common stock and $.165 per share of our Class B common stock,
payable on November 17, 2025 to our stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 3, 2025. There are no restrictions on our payment of dividends to our stockholders, although there are restrictions under applicable state laws
on the payment of dividends from our insurance subsidiaries to us, which is a significant source of cash for payment of stockholder dividends by us. Our insurance subsidiaries are required by law to maintain minimum surplus on a statutory basis
and are subject to regulations under which their payment of dividends from statutory surplus is restricted and may require prior approval of their domiciliary insurance regulatory authorities. Our insurance subsidiaries are also subject to risk
based capital (“RBC”) requirements. The amount of statutory capital and surplus necessary for our insurance subsidiaries to satisfy regulatory requirements, including the RBC requirements, was not significant in relation to our insurance
subsidiaries’ statutory capital and surplus at December 31, 2024. Our insurance subsidiaries paid $10.0 million in dividends to us during the first nine months of 2025. Amounts remaining available for distribution to us as dividends from our
insurance subsidiaries without prior approval of their domiciliary insurance regulatory authorities in 2025 are $30.7 million from Atlantic States, $7.8 million from MICO and $4.7 million from Peninsula, or a total of approximately $43.3
million.
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At September 30, 2025, we had no material commitments for capital expenditures.
Equity Price Risk
Our portfolio of marketable equity securities, which we carry on our consolidated balance sheets at estimated fair value, has exposure to the risk of loss resulting from an adverse change in prices. We manage this
risk by having our investment personnel perform an analysis of prospective investments and regular reviews of our portfolio of equity securities.
Credit Risk
Our portfolio of fixed-maturity securities and, to a lesser extent, our portfolio of short-term investments is subject to credit risk, which we define as the potential loss in market value resulting from adverse
changes in the borrower’s ability to repay its debt. We manage this risk by having our investment personnel perform an analysis of prospective investments and regular reviews of our portfolio of fixed-maturity securities. We also limit the
percentage and amount of our total investment portfolio that we invest in the securities of any one issuer.
Our insurance subsidiaries provide property and casualty insurance coverages through independent insurance agencies. We bill the majority of this business directly to the insured, although we bill a portion of our
commercial business through licensed insurance agents to whom our insurance subsidiaries extend credit in the normal course of business.
Because the pooling agreement does not relieve Atlantic States of primary liability as the originating insurer, Atlantic States is subject to a concentration of credit risk arising from the business it cedes to
Donegal Mutual. Our insurance subsidiaries maintain reinsurance agreements with Donegal Mutual and with a number of other major unaffiliated authorized reinsurers.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.