CINCINNATI FINANCIAL CORP
For the period ended Mar 31, 2025. Filed Apr 28, 2025.
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A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.
Mar 31, 2025 · Filed Apr 28, 2025
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Corporate Financial Highlights
Net Income and Comprehensive Income Data
| (Dollars in millions, except per share data) | Three months ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | % Change | |
| Earned premiums | $2,344 | $2,071 | 13 |
| Investment income, net of expenses (pretax) | 280 | 245 | 14 |
| Investment gains and losses, net (pretax) | (67) | 612 | nm |
| Total revenues | 2,566 | 2,935 | (13) |
| Net income (loss) | (90) | 755 | nm |
| Comprehensive income (loss) | (52) | 748 | nm |
| Net income (loss) per share—diluted | (0.57) | 4.78 | nm |
| Cash dividends declared per share | 0.87 | 0.81 | 7 |
| Diluted weighted average shares outstanding | 156.4 | 157.9 | (1) |
Total revenues decreased $369 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared with the first quarter of 2024, as a reduction in net investment gains offset higher earned premiums and investment income. Premium and investment revenue trends are discussed further in the respective sections of Financial Results.
Investment gains and losses are recognized on the sales of investments, on certain changes in fair values of securities even though we continue to hold the securities or as otherwise required by GAAP. We have substantial discretion in the timing of investment sales, and that timing generally is independent of the insurance underwriting process. The change in fair value of securities is also generally independent of the insurance underwriting process.
The net loss for the first quarter of 2025, compared with first-quarter 2024 net income, was a change of $845 million, including decreases of $536 million in after-tax net investment gains and losses and $339 million in after-tax property casualty underwriting profit, partially offset by a $28 million increase in after-tax investment income. Catastrophe losses for the first quarter of 2025, primarily from January 2025 wildfires in southern California, were $356 million higher after taxes and unfavorably affected both net income and property casualty underwriting profit. Life insurance segment results decreased by $1 million on a pretax basis.
Performance by segment is discussed below in Financial Results. As discussed in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 7, Executive Summary, Page 46, there are several reasons why our performance during 2025 may ultimately be below our long-term targets.
The board of directors is committed to rewarding shareholders directly through cash dividends and through share repurchase authorizations. Through 2024, the company had increased the annual cash dividend rate for 64 consecutive years, a record we believe is matched by only seven other U.S. publicly traded companies. In January 2025, the board of directors increased the regular quarterly dividend to 87 cents per share, setting the stage for our 65 th consecutive year of increasing cash dividends. During the first three months of 2025, cash dividends declared by the company increased 7% compared with the same period of 2024. Our board regularly evaluates relevant factors in decisions related to dividends and share repurchases. The 2025 dividend increase reflected our strong operating performance and signaled management's and the board's positive outlook and confidence in our outstanding capital, liquidity and financial flexibility.
Balance Sheet Data and Performance Measures
| (Dollars in millions, except share data) | At March 31, | At December 31, |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Total investments | $28,481 | $28,378 |
| Total assets | 37,276 | 36,501 |
| Short-term debt | 25 | 25 |
| Long-term debt | 790 | 790 |
| Shareholders' equity | 13,718 | 13,935 |
| Book value per share | 87.78 | 89.11 |
| Debt-to-total-capital ratio | 5.6% | 5.5% |
Total assets at March 31, 2025, increased 2% compared with year-end 2024, and included an increase of less than 1% in total investments that reflected net purchases that were partially offset by lower fair values for many securities in our equity portfolio. Shareholders' equity decreased 2% and book value per share decreased 1% during the first three months of 2025. Our debt-to-total-capital ratio (capital is the sum of debt plus shareholders' equity) increased slightly compared with year-end 2024.
Our value creation ratio is our primary performance metric. As shown in the tables below, that ratio was negative 0.5% for the first three months of 2025, compared with positive 5.9% for the same period in 2024. The decrease was primarily due to a reduction in overall net gains from our investment portfolio and an underwriting loss from our insurance operations. Book value per share decreased $1.33 during the first three months of 2025 and contributed negative 1.5 percentage points to the value creation ratio, while dividends declared at $0.87 per share contributed positive 1.0 point. Value creation ratio major contributors and in total, along with calculations from per-share amounts, are shown in the tables below.
| Three months ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Value creation ratio major contributors: | ||
| Net income before investment gains | (0.3)% | 2.3% |
| Change in fixed-maturity securities, realized and unrealized gains | 0.4 | (0.4) |
| Change in equity securities, investment gains | (0.4) | 3.9 |
| Other | (0.2) | 0.1 |
| Value creation ratio | (0.5)% | 5.9% |
| (Dollars are per share) | Three months ended March 31, | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Value creation ratio: | ||
| End of period book value* | $87.78 | $80.83 |
| Less beginning of period book value | 89.11 | 77.06 |
| Change in book value | (1.33) | 3.77 |
| Dividend declared to shareholders | 0.87 | 0.81 |
| Total value creation | $(0.46) | $4.58 |
| Value creation ratio from change in book value** | (1.5)% | 4.9% |
| Value creation ratio from dividends declared to shareholders*** | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Value creation ratio | (0.5)% | 5.9% |
| * Book value per share is calculated by dividing end of period total shareholders' equity by end of period shares outstanding | ||
| ** Change in book value divided by the beginning of period book value | ||
| *** Dividend declared to shareholders divided by beginning of period book value | ||
DRIVERS OF LONG-TERM VALUE CREATION
Operating through The Cincinnati Insurance Company, Cincinnati Financial Corporation is one of the 25 largest property casualty insurers in the nation, based on 2024 net written premiums for approximately 2,000 U.S. stock and mutual insurer groups. We market our insurance products through a select group of independent insurance agencies as discussed in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1, Our Business and Our Strategy, Page 6. At March 31, 2025, we actively marketed through 2,199 agencies located in 46 states. We maintain a long-term perspective that guides us in addressing immediate challenges or opportunities while focusing on the major decisions that best position our company for success through all market cycles.
To measure our long-term progress in creating shareholder value, our value creation ratio is our primary financial performance target. As discussed in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 7, Executive Summary, Page 46, management believes this measure is a meaningful indicator of our long-term progress in creating shareholder value and has three primary performance drivers:
Premium growth – We believe our agency relationships and initiatives can lead to a property casualty written premium growth rate over any five-year period that exceeds the industry average. For the first three months of 2025, our consolidated property casualty net written premium year-over-year growth was 11%. As of February 2025, A.M. Best projected the industry's full-year 2025 written premium growth at approximately 7%. For the five-year period 2020 through 2024, our growth rate exceeded that of the industry. The industry's growth rate excludes its mortgage and financial guaranty lines of business.
Combined ratio – We believe our underwriting philosophy and initiatives can generate an average GAAP combined ratio over any five-year period that is consistently within the range of 92% to 98%. For the first three months of 2025, our GAAP combined ratio was 113.3%, including 26.8 percentage points of current accident year catastrophe losses partially offset by 4.0 percentage points of favorable loss reserve development on prior accident years. Our statutory combined ratio was 112.3% for the first three months of 2025. As of February 2025, A.M. Best projected the industry's full-year 2025 statutory combined ratio at approximately 99%, including approximately 9 percentage points of catastrophe losses and a favorable effect of less than 1 percentage point of loss reserve development on prior accident years. The industry's ratio again excludes its mortgage and financial guaranty lines of business.
Investment contribution – We believe our investment philosophy and initiatives can drive investment income growth and lead to a total return on our equity investment portfolio over a five-year period that exceeds the five-year return of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. For the first three months of 2025, pretax investment income was $280 million, up 14% compared with the same period in 2024. We believe our investment portfolio mix provides an appropriate balance of income stability and growth with capital appreciation potential.
Financial Strength
An important part of our long-term strategy is financial strength, which is described in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1, Our Business and Our Strategy, Financial Strength, Page 8. One aspect of our financial strength is prudent use of reinsurance ceded to help manage financial performance variability due to catastrophe loss experience. A description of how we use reinsurance ceded is included in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 7, Liquidity and Capital Resources, 2025 Reinsurance Ceded Programs, Page 105. Another aspect of our financial strength is our investment portfolio, which remains well-diversified as discussed in this quarterly report in Item 3, Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. Our strong parent-company liquidity and financial strength increase our flexibility to maintain a cash dividend through all periods and to continue to invest in and expand our insurance operations.
At March 31, 2025, we held $5.028 billion of our cash and cash equivalents and invested assets at the parent-company level, of which $4.479 billion, or 89.1%, was invested in common stocks, and $241 million, or 4.8%, was cash or cash equivalents. Our debt-to-total-capital ratio was 5.6% at March 31, 2025. Another important indicator of financial strength is our ratio of property casualty net written premiums to statutory surplus, which was 1.1-to-1 for the 12 months ended March 31, 2025, compared with 1.0-to-1 at year-end 2024.
Financial strength ratings assigned to us by independent rating firms also are important. In addition to rating our parent company's senior debt, four firms award insurer financial strength ratings to one or more of our insurance subsidiary companies based on their quantitative and qualitative analyses. These ratings primarily assess an insurer's ability to meet financial obligations to policyholders and do not necessarily address all of the matters that may be important to investors. Ratings are under continuous review and subject to change or withdrawal at any time by the rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating; please see each rating agency's website for its most recent report on our ratings.
At April 25, 2025, our insurance subsidiaries continued to be highly rated.
| Insurer Financial Strength Ratings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratingagency | Standard market property casualty insurance subsidiaries | Life insurance subsidiary | Excess and surplus lines insurance subsidiary | Outlook | ||||||
| Ratingtier | Ratingtier | Ratingtier | ||||||||
| A.M. Best Co. ambest.com | A+ | Superior | 2 of 16 | A+ | Superior | 2 of 16 | A+ | Superior | 2 of 16 | Stable |
| Fitch Ratings fitchratings.com | A+ | Strong | 5 of 21 | A+ | Strong | 5 of 21 | - | - | - | Positive |
| Moody's Investors Service moodys.com | A1 | Good | 5 of 21 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Stable |
| S&P Global Ratings spratings.com | A+ | Strong | 5 of 21 | A+ | Strong | 5 of 21 | - | - | - | Stable |
CONSOLIDATED PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE HIGHLIGHTS
Consolidated property casualty insurance results include premiums and expenses for our standard market insurance segments (commercial lines and personal lines), our excess and surplus lines segment, Cincinnati Re®and our London-based global specialty underwriter Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltd. SM (Cincinnati Global).
| (Dollars in millions) | Three months ended March 31, | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 · 2024 · % Change | |||||
| Earned premiums | $2,264 | $1,992 | 14 | ||
| Fee revenues | 4 | 3 | 33 | ||
| Total revenues | 2,268 | 1,995 | 14 | ||
| Loss and loss expenses from: | |||||
| Current accident year before catastrophe losses | 1,370 | 1,221 | 12 | ||
| Current accident year catastrophe losses | 608 | 149 | 308 | ||
| Prior accident years before catastrophe losses | (50) | (68) | 26 | ||
| Prior accident years catastrophe losses | (41) | (32) | (28) | ||
| Loss and loss expenses | 1,887 | 1,270 | 49 | ||
| Underwriting expenses | 679 | 594 | 14 | ||
| Underwriting profit (loss) | $(298) | $131 | nm | ||
| Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: | Pt. Change | ||||
| Current accident year before catastrophe losses | 60.5% | 61.3% | (0.8) | ||
| Current accident year catastrophe losses | 26.8 | 7.5 | 19.3 | ||
| Prior accident years before catastrophe losses | (2.2) | (3.4) | 1.2 | ||
| Prior accident years catastrophe losses | (1.8) | (1.6) | (0.2) | ||
| Loss and loss expenses | 83.3 | 63.8 | 19.5 | ||
| Underwriting expenses | 30.0 | 29.8 | 0.2 | ||
| Combined ratio | 113.3% | 93.6% | 19.7 | ||
| Combined ratio | 113.3% | 93.6% | 19.7 | ||
| Contribution from catastrophe losses and prior years reserve development | 22.8 | 2.5 | 20.3 | ||
| Combined ratio before catastrophe losses and prior years reserve development | 90.5% | 91.1% | (0.6) | ||
Our consolidated property casualty insurance operations generated an underwriting loss of $298 million for the first quarter of 2025. Compared with an underwriting profit of $131 million for the first quarter of 2024, the first-quarter 2025 decrease of $429 million included an unfavorable increase of $450 million in losses from catastrophes, mostly caused by January 2025 wildfires in southern California, and a slightly lower amount of total favorable reserve development on prior accident years. The change in underwriting profitability for the first quarter of 2025 also included a favorable effect from higher current accident year loss and loss expenses before catastrophe losses that grew slower than earned premiums.
Underwriting results for the first quarter of 2025 included improved current accident year loss experience before catastrophe losses, as price increases have helped to offset recent-year elevated paid losses reflecting economic or other forms of inflation. Elevated inflation was a driver of higher losses and loss expenses in recent years as costs have increased significantly to repair damaged autos or other property that we insure. We also experienced higher losses for liability coverages for some of our lines of business. Due to increased uncertainty regarding ultimate losses, we intend to remain prudent in reserving for estimated ultimate losses until longer-term loss cost trends become more clear. The higher loss experience is discussed in Financial Results by property casualty insurance segment. We believe future property casualty underwriting results will continue to benefit from price increases and our ongoing initiatives to improve pricing precision and loss experience related to claims and loss control practices.
For all property casualty lines of business in aggregate, net loss and loss expense reserves at March 31, 2025, were $488 million, or 5%, higher than at year-end 2024, including an increase of $454 million for the incurred but not reported (IBNR) portion.
We measure and analyze property casualty underwriting results primarily by the combined ratio and its component ratios. The GAAP-basis combined ratio is the percentage of incurred losses plus all expenses per each earned premium dollar – the lower the ratio, the better the performance. An underwriting profit results when the combined ratio is below 100%. A combined ratio above 100% indicates that an insurance company's losses and expenses exceeded premiums.
Our consolidated property casualty combined ratio for the first quarter of 2025 increased by 19.7 percentage points, compared with the same period of 2024, including an increase of 19.1 points from catastrophe losses and loss expenses. Other combined ratio components that changed are discussed below and in further detail in Financial Results by property casualty insurance segment.
The combined ratio can be affected significantly by natural catastrophe losses and other large losses as discussed in detail below. The combined ratio can also be affected by updated estimates of loss and loss expense reserves established for claims that occurred in prior periods, referred to as prior accident years. Net favorable development on prior accident year reserves, including reserves for catastrophe losses, benefited the combined ratio by 4.0 percentage points in the first three months of 2025, compared with 5.0 percentage points in the same period of 2024. Net favorable development is discussed in further detail in Financial Results by property casualty insurance segment.
The ratio for current accident year loss and loss expenses before catastrophe losses improved in the first three months of 2025. That 60.5% ratio was 0.8 percentage points lower, compared with the 61.3% accident year 2024 ratio measured as of March 31, 2024, including an increase of 1.0 points in the ratio for large losses of $2 million or more per claim, discussed below. The ratio improvement of 0.8 percentage points included a decrease of 0.2 points for the IBNR portion and a decrease of 0.6 points for the case incurred portion. It also included an unfavorable 1.4 points for the net effect of $52 million for reinsurance treaty reinstatement premiums related to the January 2025 wildfires in southern California.
The underwriting expense ratio increased for the first three months of 2025, compared with the same period a year ago. The increase included an unfavorable 0.7 points for the effect of reinstatement premiums. The ratio for both periods also included ongoing expense management efforts and higher earned premiums.
Consolidated Property Casualty Insurance Premiums
| (Dollars in millions) | Three months ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | % Change | |
| Agency renewal written premiums | $1,912 | $1,683 | 14 |
| Agency new business written premiums | 383 | 346 | 11 |
| Other written premiums | 200 | 219 | (9) |
| Net written premiums | 2,495 | 2,248 | 11 |
| Unearned premium change | (231) | (256) | 10 |
| Earned premiums | $2,264 | $1,992 | 14 |
The trends in net written premiums and earned premiums summarized in the table above include the effects of price increases. Price change trends that heavily influence renewal written premium increases or decreases, along with other premium growth drivers for 2025, are discussed in more detail by segment below in Financial Results.
Consolidated property casualty net written premiums for the three months ended March 31, 2025, grew $247 million compared with the same period of 2024. Our premium growth initiatives from prior years have provided an ongoing favorable effect on growth during the current year, particularly as newer agency relationships mature over time.
Consolidated property casualty agency new business written premiums increased by $37 million for the first three months of 2025, compared with the same period of 2024. New agency appointments during 2025 and 2024 produced a $24 million increase in standard lines new business for the first three months of 2025 compared with the same period of 2024. As we appoint new agencies that choose to move accounts to us, we report these accounts as new business. While this business is new to us, in many cases it is not new to the agent. We believe these seasoned accounts tend to be priced more accurately than business that may be less familiar to our agent upon obtaining it from a competing agent.
Net written premiums for Cincinnati Re, included in other written premiums, increased by $53 million to $255 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared with the same period of 2024. Cincinnati Re assumes risks through reinsurance treaties and in some cases cedes part of the risk and related premiums to one or more unaffiliated reinsurance companies through transactions known as retrocessions. The increase included a $12 million net favorable effect from estimated premiums to reinstate treaties affected by the California wildfires.
Cincinnati Global is also included in other written premiums. Net written premiums for Cincinnati Global decreased by $7 million to $75 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, compared with the same period of 2024.
Other written premiums include premiums ceded to reinsurers as part of our reinsurance ceded program. An increase in ceded premiums reduced net written premiums by $65 million for the first three months of 2025, compared with the same period of 2024. Other written premiums for the first quarter of 2025 included a net unfavorable amount of $52 million for reinsurance treaty reinstatement premiums related to the California wildfires, including a favorable $12 million for Cincinnati Re and an unfavorable $64 million for our personal lines insurance segment.
Catastrophe losses and loss expenses typically have a material effect on property casualty results and can vary significantly from period to period. Losses from catastrophes contributed 25.0 percentage points to the combined ratio in the first three months of 2025, compared with 5.9 percentage points in the same period of 2024.
Net losses from catastrophes for the first quarter of 2025 included recoveries from reinsurers that participate in our primary property catastrophe reinsurance treaty. The recovery related to the California wildfires based on loss estimates at the end of the quarter was $429 million. During the first quarter of 2025, we reinstated the applicable layers of our primary property catastrophe reinsurance treaty to provide coverage for catastrophic events. As a result of the reinstatement, the treaty provides the same coverage that was effective on January 1, 2025.
The reinsurance program for Cincinnati Re only effective June 1, 2024, provides retrocession coverages with various triggers, exclusions and unique features. The program includes property catastrophe excess of loss coverage in excess of $80 million per occurrence. During 2024, the program had a total available limit of $60 million per occurrence and there was no recovery from reinsurers pertaining to these treaties. During the first three months of 2025, recoveries of $38 million were estimated related to the California wildfires. As of March 31, 2025, the remaining coverage provides a total available limit of $41 million per occurrence in excess of $80 million.
The following table shows consolidated property casualty insurance catastrophe losses and loss expenses incurred, net of reinsurance, as well as the effect of loss development on prior period catastrophe events. We individually list declared catastrophe events for which our incurred losses reached or exceeded $25 million.
Consolidated Property Casualty Insurance Catastrophe Losses and Loss Expenses Incurred
| (Dollars in millions, net of reinsurance) | Three months ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comm. · Pers. · E&S | |||||||||||
| Dates · Region · lines · lines · lines · Other · Total | |||||||||||
| Jan. 7-28 | West | $— | $325 | $— | $124 | $449 | |||||
| Mar. 14-17 | Midwest, Northeast, South | 42 | 75 | 1 | — | 118 | |||||
| All other 2025 catastrophes | 14 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 41 | ||||||
| Development on 2024 and prior catastrophes | (14) | (13) | (1) | (13) | (41) | ||||||
| Calendar year incurred total | $42 | $410 | $1 | $114 | $567 | ||||||
| Jan. 8-10 | Midwest, Northeast, South | $18 | $9 | $— | $— | $27 | |||||
| Mar. 12-17 | Midwest, South | 32 | 22 | — | — | 54 | |||||
| All other 2024 catastrophes | 25 | 42 | 1 | — | 68 | ||||||
| Development on 2023 and prior catastrophes | (8) | (21) | (1) | (2) | (32) | ||||||
| Calendar year incurred total | $67 | $52 | $— | $(2) | $117 | ||||||
The following table includes data for losses incurred of $2 million or more per claim, net of reinsurance.
Consolidated Property Casualty Insurance Losses Incurred by Size
| (Dollars in millions, net of reinsurance) | Three months ended March 31, | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 · 2024 · % Change | ||||
| Current accident year losses greater than $5 million | $26 | $— | nm | |
| Current accident year losses $2 million - $5 million | 20 | 22 | (9) | |
| Large loss prior accident year reserve development | 56 | 22 | 155 | |
| Total large losses incurred | 102 | 44 | 132 | |
| Losses incurred but not reported | 279 | 251 | 11 | |
| Other losses excluding catastrophe losses | 688 | 677 | 2 | |
| Catastrophe losses | 558 | 111 | 403 | |
| Total losses incurred | $1,627 | $1,083 | 50 | |
| Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: | Pt. Change | |||
| Current accident year losses greater than $5 million | 1.2% | —% | 1.2 | |
| Current accident year losses $2 million - $5 million | 0.9 | 1.1 | (0.2) | |
| Large loss prior accident year reserve development | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | |
| Total large loss ratio | 4.5 | 2.2 | 2.3 | |
| Losses incurred but not reported | 12.3 | 12.6 | (0.3) | |
| Other losses excluding catastrophe losses | 30.4 | 34.0 | (3.6) | |
| Catastrophe losses | 24.6 | 5.6 | 19.0 | |
| Total loss ratio | 71.8% | 54.4% | 17.4 | |
We believe the inherent variability of aggregate loss experience for our portfolio of larger policies is greater than that of our portfolio of smaller policies, and we continue to monitor the variability in addition to general inflationary trends in loss costs. Our analysis continues to indicate no unexpected concentration of large losses and case reserve increases by risk category, geographic region, policy inception, agency or field marketing territory. The first-quarter 2025 property casualty total large losses incurred of $102 million, net of reinsurance, was higher than the $70 million quarterly average during full-year 2024 and the $44 million experienced for the first quarter of 2024. The ratio for these large losses was 2.3 percentage points higher compared with last year's first quarter. We believe results for the three-month period largely reflected normal fluctuations in loss patterns and normal variability in large case reserves for claims above $2 million. Losses by size are discussed in further detail in results of operations by property casualty insurance segment.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.