CINCINNATI, April 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF) today reported: First-quarter 2024 net income of $755 million, or $4.78 per share, compared with $225 million, or $1.42 per share, in the first quarter of 2023, after recognizing a $484 million first-quarter 2024 after-tax increase in the fair value of equity securities still held. $131 million or 93% increase in non-GAAP operating income* to $272 million, or $1.72 per share, compared with $141 million, or $0.89 per share, in the first quarter of last year. $530 million increase in first-quarter 2024 net income, compared with first-quarter 2023, primarily due to the after-tax net effect of a $399 million increase in net investment gains and a $111 million increase in after-tax property casualty underwriting income. $80.83 book value per share at March 31, 2024, up $3.77 since year-end. 5.9% value creation ratio for the first three months of 2024, compared with 3.1% for the same period of 2023. Financial Highlights (Dollars in millions, except per share data) Three months ended March 31, 2024 2023 % Change Revenue Data    Earned premiums $    2,071 $    1,918 8    Investment income, net of expenses 245 210 17    Total revenues 2,935 2,241 31 Income Statement Data    Net income $       755 $       225 236    Investment gains and losses, after-tax 483 84 475    Non-GAAP operating income* $       272 $       141 93 Per Share Data (diluted)    Net income $      4.78 $      1.42 237    Investment gains and losses, after-tax 3.06 0.53 477    Non-GAAP operating income* $      1.72 $      0.89 93    Book value $    80.83 $    68.33 18    Cash dividend declared $      0.81 $      0.75 8    Diluted weighted average share outstanding 157.9 158.5 0 * The Definitions of Non-GAAP Information and Reconciliation to Comparable GAAP Measures section defines and reconciles measures presented in this release that are not based on U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Forward-looking statements and related assumptions are subject to the risks outlined in the company's safe harbor statement.   Insurance Operations Highlights 93.6% first-quarter 2024 property casualty combined ratio, improved from 100.7% for the first quarter of 2023. 11% growth in first-quarter net written premiums, including price increases, premium growth initiatives and a higher level of insured exposures. $346 million first-quarter 2024 property casualty new business written premiums, up 38%. Agencies appointed since the beginning of 2023 contributed $25 million or 7% of total new business written premiums. $19 million first-quarter 2024 life insurance subsidiary net income, including a 17% increase in non-GAAP operating income compared with the first quarter of 2023, and 2% growth in first-quarter 2024 term life insurance earned premiums. Investment and Balance Sheet Highlights 17% or $35 million increase in first-quarter 2024 pretax investment income, including a 21% increase in bond interest income and a 9% increase in stock portfolio dividends. Three-month increase of 4% in fair value of total investments at March 31, 2024, including a 2% increase for the bond portfolio and a 5% increase for the stock portfolio. $4.865 billion parent company cash and marketable securities at March 31, 2024, up less than 1% from year-end 2023. A Strong Start to the YearSteven J. Johnston, chairman and chief executive officer, commented: "Non-GAAP operating income nearly doubled last year's first-quarter results, reaching $272 million on steady contributions from our underwriting and investment operations. Pretax investment income rose $35 million in the first quarter as bond interest grew 21% and dividends from our equity portfolio increased 9%. "Turning to our insurance operations, our first-quarter combined ratio improved 7.1 percentage points over last year's first quarter to 93.6%. Lower catastrophe losses contributed to most of the improvement and our current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses improved for our commercial, personal and excess and surplus lines business. "The profitability of Cincinnati Re® and Cincinnati Global Underwriting Ltd.SM remain excellent. The first quarter of 2023 was exceptionally profitable for these areas of our company with a current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses in the low 70s. In the first quarter of this year, that measure is in the low 90s – more in line with the rest of our property casualty insurance business." Continuing to Balance Growth and Profitability"We're pleased with our growth and with premium increases in the high-single-digit percent range reported by each of our property casualty segments. Consolidated property casualty first-quarter net written premiums grew 11%, including record new business of $346 million.  "The main driver for our growth continues to come from the excellent relationships we develop with our agencies. So far this year, we've appointed 88 agencies across the country, including 28 that market only our personal lines products.  "We're focused on balancing growth and profitability. In the beginning of last year, growth slowed as we chose to lean in to our underwriting discipline and walk away from business we believed was too thinly priced. As the market continued to firm over the course of 2023, our growth began to accelerate. In the first quarter of 2024, we continued to see the benefits of investing in pricing precision tools and data that allows us to finely segment our books of business, giving us confidence in our pricing as we consider each risk our agents submit to us. "Our personal lines business saw new business premiums increase 54% compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting our ability to write new business for a broad range of our agents' clients, including Cincinnati Private Client℠ policies, middle-market accounts and homes that qualify for the tailored coverage of our excess and surplus lines company." Book Value Reaches Record High"Book value per share reached a record high of $80.83, an increase of 5% since the end of 2023, and consolidated cash and total investments neared $27 billion. Our ample capital allows us to execute on our long-term strategies and, at the same time, continue to pay dividends to shareholders.  "In January, the board of directors expressed its confidence in our financial strength by again raising the quarterly cash dividend. Our value creation ratio, which considers those dividends as well as growth in book value, was 5.9% for the first quarter. Our associates remain determined to do things just a little better every day, strengthening our ability to compete by enhancing the advantages of our local independent agencies. That has been and continues to be our plan for creating shareholder value far into the future." Insurance Operations Highlights Consolidated Property Casualty Insurance Results (Dollars in millions) Three months ended March 31, 2024 2023 % Change Earned premiums $   1,992 $   1,841 8 Fee revenues 3 2 50    Total revenues 1,995 1,843 8 Loss and loss expenses 1,270 1,317 (4) Underwriting expenses 594 536 11    Underwriting profit (loss) $      131 $     (10) nm   Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: Pt. Change      Loss and loss expenses 63.8 % 71.6 % (7.8)      Underwriting expenses 29.8 29.1 0.7            Combined ratio 93.6 % 100.7 % (7.1) % Change Agency renewal written premiums $   1,683 $   1,535 10 Agency new business written premiums 346 251 38 Other written premiums 219 233 (6)    Net written premiums $   2,248 $   2,019 11 Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: Pt. Change      Current accident year before catastrophe losses 61.3 % 61.0 % 0.3      Current accident year catastrophe losses 7.5 13.8 (6.3)      Prior accident years before catastrophe losses (3.4) (2.2) (1.2)      Prior accident years catastrophe losses (1.6) (1.0) (0.6)            Loss and loss expense ratio 63.8 % 71.6 % (7.8) Current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses  91.1 % 90.1 % 1.0   $229 million or 11% growth of first-quarter 2024 property casualty net written premiums, reflecting premium growth initiatives, price increases and a higher level of insured exposures. The contribution to first-quarter growth from Cincinnati Re and Cincinnati Global in total was negative by less than 1 percentage point. $95 million or 38% increase in first-quarter 2024 new business premiums written by agencies. The growth included a $24 million increase in standard market property casualty production from agencies appointed since the beginning of 2023. 88 new agency appointments in the first three months of 2024, including 28 that market only our personal lines products. 7.1 percentage-point first-quarter 2024 combined ratio improvement, including a decrease of 6.9 points from lower catastrophe losses. 5.0 percentage-point first-quarter 2024 benefit from favorable prior accident year reserve development of $100 million, compared with 3.2 points or $59 million for first-quarter 2023. 0.3 percentage-point increase, to 61.3%, for the three-month 2024 ratio of current accident year losses and loss expenses before catastrophes, including an increase of 1.8 points for the portion estimated as reserves for claims incurred but not reported (IBNR) and a decrease of 1.5 points for the case incurred portion. 1.0 percentage-point improvement in the three-month 2024 current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses for property casualty insurance, excluding Cincinnati Re and Cincinnati Global. 0.7 percentage-point increase in the underwriting expense ratio for the first three months of 2024, compared with the same period of 2023, primarily due to higher levels of profit-sharing commissions for agencies.  Commercial Lines Insurance Results (Dollars in millions) Three months ended March 31, 2024 2023 % Change Earned premiums $ 1,082 $ 1,056 2 Fee revenues 1 1 0    Total revenues 1,083 1,057 2 Loss and loss expenses 719 748 (4) Underwriting expenses 325 311 5    Underwriting profit (loss) $     39 $      (2) nm   Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: Pt. Change      Loss and loss expenses 66.4 % 70.9 % (4.5)      Underwriting expenses 30.1 29.5 0.6            Combined ratio 96.5 % 100.4 % (3.9) % Change Agency renewal written premiums $ 1,076 $ 1,041 3 Agency new business written premiums 182 134 36 Other written premiums (35) (34) (3)    Net written premiums $ 1,223 $ 1,141 7 Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: Pt. Change      Current accident year before catastrophe losses 63.0 % 63.9 % (0.9)      Current accident year catastrophe losses 7.0 10.0 (3.0)      Prior accident years before catastrophe losses (2.8) (3.4) 0.6      Prior accident years catastrophe losses (0.8) 0.4 (1.2)            Loss and loss expense ratio 66.4 % 70.9 % (4.5) Current accident year combined ratio before catastrophe losses 93.1 % 93.4 % (0.3)   $82 million or 7% growth in first-quarter 2024 commercial lines net written premiums, including higher agency renewal and new business written premiums. $35 million or 3% increase in first-quarter renewal written premiums, with commercial lines average renewal pricing increases near the low end of the high-single-digit percent range. $48 million or 36% increase in first-quarter 2024 new business premiums written by agencies, as we continue to carefully underwrite each policy in a highly competitive market. 3.9 percentage-point first-quarter 2024 combined ratio improvement, including a decrease of 4.2 points from lower catastrophe losses. 3.6 percentage-point first-quarter 2024 benefit from favorable prior accident year reserve development of $38 million, compared with 3.0 points or $32 million for first-quarter 2023. Personal Lines Insurance Results (Dollars in millions) Three months ended March 31, 2024 2023 % Change Earned premiums $   588 $    464 27 Fee revenues 1 1 0    Total revenues 589 465 27 Loss and loss expenses 379 386 (2) Underwriting expenses 173 136 27    Underwriting profit (loss) $     37 $    (57) nm   Ratios as a percent of earned premiums: