By Michael Loney

July 21 - (The Insurer) - RLI Corp has reported an earnings beat for the second quarter, with results that included a 3 percentage point deterioration in its combined ratio to 84.5% and essentially flat gross premiums written driven by a 10% drop in property writings.

Peoria, Illinois-based RLI reported operating earnings for the second quarter of $78.1 million, down from $79.3 million in the same period of last year.

The operating earnings per share of $0.84 beat the $0.79 consensus estimate of nine analysts as per MarketWatch, and was down from $0.86 for the same period in 2024.

Underwriting income fell to $62.2 million in the second quarter of 2025 from $70.0 million in Q2 2024.

The 84.5% combined ratio in this year’s second quarter deteriorated from 81.5% in the second quarter of 2024.

Favorable development in prior years’ loss reserves increased underwriting income by $24.4 million in Q4 2025, up from $19.8 million in the prior-year period.

The combined ratio by segment deteriorated 1.4 points to 96.5% for casualty, deteriorated 1.8 points to 62.1% for property and deteriorated 6.1 points to 87.9% for surety.

Gross premiums written were essentially flat at $562.3 million in the second quarter of this year, compared with $563.4 million in the same period last year.

This included a 10.3% drop in property GPW to $211.8 million, while casualty GPW increased 7.0% to $306.6 million and surety GPW increased 7.5% to $43.9 million.

Net investment income increased 16% to $39.4 million in this year’s second quarter.

“RLI delivered solid earnings and continued book value growth in the second quarter,” said RLI president and CEO Craig Kliethermes. “We posted an 85% combined ratio, underscoring our underwriting discipline in a highly competitive market.”