By Chris Munro

May 8 - (The Insurer) - Kemper Corporation’s specialty P&C Q1 2025 combined ratio improved by 2.1 points to 92.7% as it booked lower current-year attritional and catastrophe loss ratios along with earnings per share for the period that beat analysts’ consensus forecast.

Chicago, Illinois-based Kemper’s specialty P&C operation saw its current-year non-catastrophe losses and LAE ratio improve by 1.6 points year on year to 70.9% in 2025’s first quarter.

Its current-year cat losses and LAE ratio improved by 10 basis points to 0.4%, while Kemper’s prior-year non-cat losses and LAE ratio reduced by 50 basis points from Q1 2024 to 0.1%.

Kemper’s Q1 2025 underlying combined ratio improved by 1.4 points year on year to 92.2%.

That improvement was largely driven by higher average earned premiums per exposure resulting from rate increases, partially offset by higher underlying claim severity, Kemper detailed.

Specialty P&C net premiums written totaled $1.07 billion for the first three months of 2025, compared with $864.6 million in the prior-year period.

The specialty P&C segment’s adjusted net operating income reached $97.9 million in Q1 2025, up from $69.2 million for the first quarter of 2024, with the increase due primarily to an improvement in the segment’s underlying combined ratio, Kemper said.

The company’s life insurance adjusted net operating income increased to $17.2 million from Q1 2024’s $11.9 million, mainly due to higher net investment income.

Across its operations, Kemper booked adjusted consolidated net operating income of $106.4 million for Q1 2025, compared with the prior-year period’s $69.7 million.

On a diluted per share basis, Kemper generated adjusted consolidated net operating income of $1.65 in Q1 2025, ahead of the prior-year period’s $1.07, and a beat on the $1.49 that was the consensus forecast of analysts as per S&P Capital IQ.

“Kemper delivered another quarter of very strong financial results, led by continued robust profitable growth in our specialty auto business, which saw a very strong 92% underlying combined ratio, 14% year over year policy growth, and 24% written premium growth,” said Kemper president and CEO Joseph Lacher.

“We improved our capital and liquidity position, significantly reducing our debt-to-capital ratio and producing operating cash flows approaching all-time highs.

“We’ve invested significant effort over the past few years in building a stronger, more resilient company – positioning us well to navigate the current market uncertainty.

“We remain confident in our continued ability to create long-term shareholder value,” Lacher added.