United Fire Gr (NASDAQ:UFCS) reported first-quarter financial results on Wednesday. The transcript from the company’s first-quarter earnings call has been provided below.
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Summary
United Fire Gr reported a strong start to 2026 with record net written premiums, a 4-point improvement in the combined ratio, and a 15% increase in net investment income, resulting in a return on equity of approximately 13%.
The company emphasized disciplined growth, with net written premiums increasing by 12% largely driven by core commercial business and a decrease in ceded reinsurance premiums.
Management highlighted strategic initiatives such as deepening underwriting expertise, expanding capabilities, and strengthening distribution relationships to profitably grow the business amidst competitive market conditions.
The underlying loss ratio stood at 57%, reflecting improved portfolio quality, while the catastrophe loss ratio improved by 1.3 points compared to the previous year.
Expense ratio improved by 3 points year-over-year, with expectations for continued gradual reduction due to growth and disciplined management actions.
Full Transcript
OPERATOR
Good morning and welcome to the United Fire Group Insurance 2026 first quarter conference call. All participants will be in listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal conference specialist by pressing the Star key followed by zero. After today’s remarks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press Star then one on your touchstone phone. To withdraw your question, please press Star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Tim Borst, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Tim Borst (Vice President of Investor Relations)
Good morning and thank you for joining this call. Yesterday afternoon we issued a press release on our results. To find a copy of this document, please visit our website at ufginsurance.com Press releases and slides are located under the Investors tab. Joining me today on the call are UFG President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Leidwinger, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Julie Stephenson, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Eric Martin. Before I turn the call over to Kevin, a couple of reminders. First. First, please note that our presentation today may include forward looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform act of 1995. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the company, the industry in which we operate, and beliefs and assumptions made by management. The company cautions investors that any forward looking statement includes risks and uncertainties and are not a guarantee of future performance. Any forward looking statement made by us in this presentation is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. These forward looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and the company assumes no obligation to update any forward looking statements. The actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors which are described in our press release and SEC filings discussed specifically in our most recent annual report on Form 10K. Also, please note that in our discussion today we may use some non GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measures are also available in our press release and SEC filings. At this time, I will turn the call over to Mr. Kevin Leidwinger, CEO of UFG Insurance.
Kevin Leidwinger (President and Chief Executive Officer)
Thank you Tim. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. UFG is off to a terrific start. In 2026 we delivered another quarter of excellent results reflecting our continued positive momentum from the transformative actions we’ve taken over the past few years to position the company for long term success. In the first quarter, we achieved record net written premium a nearly 4 point improvement in the combined ratio and a 15% increase in net investment income. These achievements contributed to a return on equity of approximately 13% and the highest first quarter earnings per share in seven years. In addition to our strong financial performance, I’m also very pleased with our focus on growing the business in a disciplined manner, particularly in the face of a changing market. The coordinated strategic actions we’ve taken to deepen underwriting and actuarial expertise, expand capabilities, strengthen distribution relationships and invest in the organization’s productivity are affording us access to a greater number of business opportunities than previously available to ufg. These have allowed us to remain disciplined, highly selective underwriters focused on profitably growing our business as we more broadly serve our distribution partners. As we continue to thoughtfully, responsibly and profitably grow our business through expanded opportunity, I’m confident the underwriting discipline we’ve instilled in the organization over the past three years will serve us well in the evolving market. I will now hand the call over to Julie Stephenson to discuss our underwriting results in more detail.
Julie Stephenson (Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer)
Julie thanks Kevin. We are pleased with the continued positive momentum in the business, particularly in the face of competitive headwinds emerging in the marketplace. Net …
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