Old Republic International's Q4 2024: Unpacking Contradictions in Property Growth, Competitive Challenges, and General Insurance Trends

Strong Financial Performance in 2024:
- Old Republic International Corporation reported $285 million in consolidated pre-tax operating income for Q4 2024, up from $237 million in 2023.
- The company's consolidated combined ratio was 92.7%, improving from 93.3% in the previous year.
- The growth was driven by strong performance in specialty insurance and title insurance segments, and conservative reserving practices.

Specialty Insurance Expansion:
- The specialty insurance segment grew net premiums earned by 13% in Q4, with a combined ratio of 91.8%, an improvement from 92% last year.
- The growth was attributed to strong renewal retention ratios, rate increases, new business growth, and the success of new specialty underwriting subsidiaries like Old Republic Cyber.

Title Insurance Upturn:
- Title Insurance segment increased premiums and fees by 9%, producing $55 million in pre-tax operating income, up from $44 million last year.
- The improvement in the title insurance combined ratio to 94.4% was due to a combination of increased revenue and expense management.

Investment Portfolio Yield and Reinvestment:
- Average reinvestment rate on corporate bonds was 4.8% during the year, while the comparable book yield on corporate bonds disposed of was 3.5%.
- The total bond portfolio book yield is now 4.5%, up from 4% at the end of last year, driven by higher yields on the bond portfolio.

Capital Returns to Shareholders:
- Old Republic declared nearly $560 million in dividends and repurchased $174 million worth of shares in Q4 2024, bringing the total capital return for the year to over $1.7 billion.
- The company issued a special dividend of $2 per share, reflecting its strong operating earnings and excess capital position.