Amerisafe Inc (AMSF) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the AMERISAFE 2023 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Kathryn Shirley. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 AMERISAFE 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。這次，我想把會議交給 Kathryn Shirley。請繼續。

Good morning. Welcome to the AMERISAFE 2023 Third Quarter Investor Call. If you have not received the earnings release, it is available on our website at amerissafe.com. This call is being recorded. A replay of today's call will be available. Details on how to access the replay are in the earnings release. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to various risks and uncertainties.

早安.歡迎參加 AMERISAFE 2023 年第三季投資人電話會議。如果您尚未收到收益報告，可以在我們的網站 amerissafe.com 上取得。此通話正在錄音。今天的電話會議將重播。有關如何存取重播的詳細信息，請參見收益報告。在本次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述。這些陳述是基於目前的預期和假設，受到各種風險和不確定性的影響。

Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied in these statements, if the underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or as the result of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors discussed in the earnings release, in the comments made during today's call, and in the Risk Factors section of our Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to Janelle Frost, AMERISAFE's President and CEO.

如果基本假設被證明不正確，或者由於風險、不確定性和其他因素（包括收益報告中討論的因素）以及今天電話會議期間發表的評論，實際結果可能與這些聲明中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表、10-Q 表以及其他報告和文件的風險因素部分。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的責任。我現在將把電話轉給 AMERISAFE 總裁兼執行長 Janelle Frost。

Thank you, Kathryn, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, momentum in our top line grew with increased in-force policy count as well as an increase in audit premium. However, our expense ratio was elevated due to some infrequent items during the quarter, which Andy will provide more detail on. The overall workers' compensation market has remained fairly stable from the last quarter, with declining rates, partially offset by wage inflation.

謝謝凱瑟琳，大家早安。第三季度，隨著有效保單數量的增加以及審計保費的增加，我們的營收動能有所增加。然而，由於本季出現一些不常見的項目，我們的費用比率有所上升，安迪將提供更多詳細資訊。整體工人薪酬市場自上個季度以來保持相當穩定，利率下降，但部分被工資上漲所抵消。

Our underwriting discipline is demonstrated in our ability to maintain strong margins throughout many market cycles. In the third quarter, we reported a combined ratio of 90.6% and a return on average equity of 11.8%. Our top line increased 3.9% compared with the third quarter of 2022, with voluntary premium for policies written in the quarter growing 1.1%. We continue to see strong retention in policies for which we offer renewal with a 95% retention for the quarter. Moving on to losses. The accident year loss ratio remained steady at 71%.

我們的承保紀律體現在我們在多個市場週期中保持強勁利潤的能力。第三季度，我們的綜合成本率為 90.6%，平均股本報酬率為 11.8%。與 2022 年第三季相比，我們的營收成長了 3.9%，本季保單的自願保費增加了 1.1%。我們繼續看到我們提供續保的保單的保留率很高，本季保留率為 95%。持續虧損。事故年損失率穩定在71%。

During the quarter, our claims handling practices drove better-than-expected outcomes, resulting in favorable prior year development of $10.2 million or 15.2% loss ratio points. These reserves were primarily released from accident years 2019, 2020 and 2021. As it relates to loss trends, frequency and severity were both in line with our expectations, trending lower than -- when compared with previous year at 9 months. It's been a while since I used the word lumpy in my prepared remarks, but when reporting favorable claims trends before the end of an accident year, I am reminded that there is no seasonality to when severe claims happen.

在本季度，我們的索賠處理實務取得了好於預期的結果，導致上一年的業績成長為 1,020 萬美元或 15.2% 的損失率點。這些準備金主要是從 2019 年、2020 年和 2021 年事故年份釋放的。就損失趨勢而言，頻率和嚴重程度均符合我們的預期，與去年 9 個月相比，趨勢較低。我已經有一段時間沒有在準備好的發言中使用“塊狀”這個詞了，但是當在事故年度結束之前報告有利的索賠趨勢時，我想起嚴重索賠的發生沒有季節性。

While the market remains challenging, we continue to utilize our focus on high hazard risk to position the company for outperformance within the industry. High retention with policyholders demonstrating our strong position while we work to attract new business, delivering robust returns to shareholders. Before returning the call over to Andy, I wanted to discuss our special dividend. The company's Board of Directors declared a special dividend of $3.50 for shareholders of record as of December 1, 2023. This dividend reflects the operational excellence of AMERISAFE and our commitment to shareholder value creation through capital deployment and returning excess capital when appropriate. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andy to discuss the financials.

儘管市場仍然充滿挑戰，但我們繼續利用對高危險風險的關注，使公司在行業中表現出色。保單持有人的高保留率證明了我們的強大地位，同時我們努力吸引新業務，為股東帶來豐厚的回報。在回電給安迪之前，我想討論一下我們的特別股息。公司董事會宣布向截至 2023 年 12 月 1 日登記在冊的股東派發 3.50 美元的特別股息。該股息反映了 AMERISAFE 的卓越運營以及我們通過資本部署和適時返還多餘資本來創造股東價值的承諾。這樣，我會將電話轉給安迪討論財務問題。

Thank you, Janelle, and good morning to everyone. For the third quarter of 2023, AMERISAFE reported net income of $10 million or $0.52 per diluted share and operating net income of $11.7 million or $0.61 per diluted share. During the third quarter of 2022, net income was $11.4 million or $0.59 per diluted share and operating net income of $14.1 million or $0.73 per diluted share. The lower net income was primarily driven by certain items in the quarter, driving the expense ratio higher as well as less tax-exempt interest income driving a high tax rate compared to the third quarter of 2022. Gross written premiums were $70.8 million in the quarter versus $68.2 million in the third quarter of 2022, growing 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

謝謝你，珍妮爾，祝大家早安。 2023 年第三季度，AMERISAFE 報告淨利潤為 1,000 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.52 美元，營運淨利為 1,170 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.61 美元。 2022 年第三季度，淨利為 1,140 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.59 美元，營業淨利為 1,410 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.73 美元。淨利潤較低的主要原因是本季的某些項目導致費用率上升，以及免稅利息收入減少導致稅率高於 2022 年第三季。本季的總保費為 7,080 萬美元2022 年第三季的銷售金額為6,820 萬美元，年增3.9%。

Payroll audit and related premium adjustments increased premiums written by $5.6 million as compared to an increase of $3.4 million in the third quarter of 2022. While audit premium was strong this quarter, we continue to expect some flattening out in coming periods. Ceded premiums increased $1.6 million for the quarter compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to costs related to additional reinsurance coverage. Our total underwriting and other expenses were $22.4 million in the quarter, a 14% increase compared with the $19.6 million recognized in the prior year quarter.

薪資審計和相關保費調整使承保保費增加了 560 萬美元，而 2022 年第三季則增加了 340 萬美元。雖然本季審計保費強勁，但我們仍預計未來幾個時期將趨於平穩。與去年同期相比，本季分出保費增加了 160 萬美元，主要是與額外再保險範圍相關的成本。本季我們的承保和其他費用總額為 2,240 萬美元，比去年同期的 1,960 萬美元增加 14%。

This increase resulted in an expense ratio of 33.6% compared with 28.9% in the third quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily due to a $1.6 million reduction in reinsurance profit-sharing commission due to adverse development from an older treaty, a $600,000 increase in commission expense and $400,000 increase in regulatory assessments and fees. Our tax rate was 19.2% compared to 15.5% for the last -- for last year's third quarter, largely due to a lower proportion of tax-exempt income versus underwriting income in the quarter compared with last year.

這一增長導致費用率達到33.6%，而2022 年第三季為28.9%。這一增長主要是由於舊條約的不利發展導致再保險利潤分享佣金減少了160 萬美元，再保險利潤分享佣金增加了60 萬美元。佣金費用以及監管評估和費用增加 400,000 美元。我們的稅率為 19.2%，而去年第三季的稅率為 15.5%，這主要是由於該季度免稅收入與承保收入的比例低於去年。

Turning to our investment portfolio. In the third quarter, net investment income increased 16.1% to $8.1 million from $7 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by higher yields on cash as well as higher investment rates on fixed maturity securities. For the quarter, yield on new investments increased approximately 230 basis points, driving our tax equivalent book yield to 3.77% or 60 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2022. Realized gains for the portfolio on securities sold were $5.1 million in the quarter compared with $600,000 during the third quarter of 2022, primarily related to realized gains on an equity security.

轉向我們的投資組合。第三季淨投資收益從去年同期的 700 萬美元成長 16.1% 至 810 萬美元。這一增長是由現金收益率上升以及固定期限證券投資利率上升所推動的。本季度，新投資的收益率增加了約230 個基點，使我們的稅收等值帳面收益率達到3.77%，比2022 年第三季高出60 個基點。本季出售證券投資組合的實現收益為510 萬美元2022 年第三季的收益為 60 萬美元，主要與股權證券的已實現收益相關。

The investment portfolio is a high-quality carrying a AA minus credit rating with a duration of 4.3 years. The composition of the portfolio is 56% in municipal bonds, 27% in corporate bonds, 4% in U.S. treasuries and agencies, 6% in equity securities and 7% in cash and other investments. Approximately 57% of our bond portfolio is comprised of held-to-maturity securities. And due to the notable increase in rates during the quarter, the net unrealized loss position was $35.1 million at quarter end. As a reminder, this held-to-maturity securities are carried at amortized costs and therefore, unrealized gains or losses on these securities are not reflected in our book value.

該投資組合為優質投資組合，信用評等為AA減，期限為4.3年。此投資組合的構成為市政債券佔56%，公司債佔27%，美國國債和機構債券佔4%，股本證券佔6%，現金和其他投資佔7%。我們的債券投資組合中約 57% 由持有至到期證券組成。由於本季費率顯著上升，季末未實現淨虧損為 3,510 萬美元。提醒一下，這些持有至到期的證券以攤餘成本計量，因此，這些證券的未實現收益或損失不會反映在我們的帳面價值中。

Our capital position is strong with a high-quality balance sheet, solid loss reserve position and conservative investment portfolio. At quarter end, AMERISAFE carried roughly $950 million in investments, cash and cash equivalents. Our company paid its regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.34 per share in the third quarter. This quarter, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.34 per share payable on December 15, 2023, to shareholders of record as of December 1, 2023. And finally, just a couple of other topics.

我們的資本狀況強勁，擁有高品質的資產負債表、穩健的損失準備金和保守的投資組合。截至季末，AMERISAFE 持有約 9.5 億美元的投資、現金和現金等價物。我們公司第三季定期支付每股 0.34 美元的季度現金股利。本季度，董事會宣佈於 2023 年 12 月 15 日向截至 2023 年 12 月 1 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.34 美元的季度現金股息。最後，還有幾個其他話題。

Book value per share was $17.51, an increase of 5.7% from year-end 2022, and operating return on average equity was 13.2%. And finally, tomorrow, Friday, October 27, 2023, we will be filing our Form 10-Q with the SEC after market close. With that, I would like to open the call for the question-and-answer portion of the call. Operator?

每股帳面價值為17.51美元，較2022年底成長5.7%，平均股本營運報酬率為13.2%。最後，明天，即 2023 年 10 月 27 日星期五，我們將在收市後向 SEC 提交 10-Q 表格。至此，我想開始問答部分的通話。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Mark Hughes with Truist.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 Truist 的 Mark Hughes。

Thank you. Good morning.

謝謝。早安.

Mark.

標記。

Did you give the ELCM number?

你給了 ELCM 號碼嗎？

150.

150.

And then how do you -- are you seeing anything happening with medical inflation. There's all this talk about employee benefits expenses going up and health care costs. What do you think about that?

然後你如何——你是否看到醫療通膨發生了任何事情？所有這些都在談論員工福利費用上漲和醫療保健費用。你對此有何看法？

It is certainly the top of du jour amongst everyone in the industry and workers' comp. I think we all believe -- I know I believe that given the cost of health care that we will indeed see that eventually work its way into the workers' compensation system. But can't point to any data elements at this point, other than pockets here and there of anecdotal experiences. Nothing prolific that I would say that we've seen it truly impact the industry.

這無疑是業內人士和工人補償中最熱門的。我想我們都相信——我知道我相信考慮到醫療保健的成本，我們確實會看到最終會進入工人的補償體系。但目前無法指出任何數據元素，除了零星的軼事經歷。我想說的是，我們沒有看到它真正影響了這個行業。

However, I do think it is top of mind for people in the industry and when they're contemplating reserving, I do think people are -- companies are probably being a little more cautious or a little more thoughtful about medical cost expectations in their reserves, depending on how they view that. AMERISAFE relies heavily on our case reserves. Our FCMs have always taken a long-term approach to the medical case inflation or medical inflation within their individual case reserves, and that has benefited us in our past, and we haven't changed that practice. So we are closely monitoring what's happening, and really trying to look for pockets of savings as we always are, but particularly when I feel like the medical landscape to some degree has changed.

然而，我確實認為這是業內人士最關心的問題，當他們考慮預留時，我確實認為人們——公司可能對其儲備中的醫療費用預期更加謹慎或更深思熟慮，取決於他們如何看待這一點。 AMERISAFE 嚴重依賴我們的案件儲備。我們的 FCM 始終對醫療病例膨脹或個人病例儲備內的醫療通貨膨脹採取長期方法，這在過去使我們受益，我們沒有改變這種做法。因此，我們正在密切關注正在發生的事情，並像往常一樣努力尋找節省的資金，特別是當我覺得醫療環境在某種程度上發生了變化時。

Yes, yes. The top line ex-audit premiums -- and I think we calculate it a little differently than you presented, but this is the first positive number since 2018 -- 1st quarter 2018 if I'm looking at it properly, not a dramatic change, but is there anything going on that's helping to support the top line here?

是的是的。頂線前審計保費——我認為我們的計算方式與您提出的略有不同，但這是自2018 年以來的第一個正數——如果我正確看待的話，是2018 年第一季度，這不是一個巨大的變化，但有什麼事情可以幫助支撐營收嗎？

Yes, I'll talk -- there's a couple of things that is happening there. We've reported some policy growth over the last few quarters. So that's been a positive. But certainly, rate decreases have -- the premium dollars necessarily didn't follow the policy growth. This quarter, we still had rate declines, no question, but we were able to grow even more policy count growth. And I really attributed that to the hard work of the AMERISAFE employees, trying to make the most of their agent relationships, ease of doing business, making sure that we're making the right contacts and penetration within the agency. So kudos to them for really -- and making a difference there.

是的，我會談談——那裡正在發生一些事情。我們報告了過去幾個季度的一些政策成長。所以這是積極的。但可以肯定的是，利率下降——保費美元不一定跟隨政策成長。毫無疑問，本季我們的利率仍然下降，但我們能夠實現更多的保單數量成長。我確實將這歸功於 AMERISAFE 員工的辛勤工作，他們試圖充分利用他們的代理關係，輕鬆開展業務，確保我們在代理商內建立正確的聯繫和滲透。所以，我要向他們致敬，因為他們確實做出了改變。

I don't view it as a shift in the marketplace. I think it's more of efforts within the AMERISAFE 4 walls of moving that needle. At the same time, wage inflation is sort of acting as a rate increase, right? So we've talked about wage inflation for a number of quarters. If I look back, we were reporting 12% -- 10%, 8%. This quarter, it was down to 5.9%, but still higher than the industry -- as the countrywide average in terms of wage inflation.

我不認為這是市場的轉變。我認為更多的是在 AMERISAFE 4 牆內做出努力來推動這一目標。同時，薪資通膨有點像利率上漲，對嗎？我們已經討論了幾個季度的工資通膨問題。如果我回顧一下，我們報告的比例是 12%、10%、8%。本季度，數字下降至5.9%，但仍高於行業工資通膨率和全國平均。

So we're certainly benefiting that both in terms of premium that we're putting on the books now and then, of course, the audit premium as well. We're not seeing new employee counts really shift all that much. So I don't -- I feel like the economies for our insurers are strong, but not to the point where they're experiencing a labor shortage in terms of being able to add new workers.

因此，我們肯定會受益於我們時不時記入帳簿的溢價，當然還有審計溢價。我們並沒有看到新員工人數有太大變化。所以我不認為——我覺得我們的保險公司的經濟很強勁，但還沒有達到他們在增加新工人方面遇到勞動力短缺的程度。

Yes. Could you give the number of large claims through 9 months?

是的。您能否提供 9 個月內大額索賠的數量？

We ended the quarter with 8 claims within case incurred over $1 million. If you look at that compared to where we were at (inaudible) last year, I think that was 11, so still slightly down from where we were last year.

本季末，我們收到了 8 起索賠案件，損失金額超過 100 萬美元。如果你把這個數字與我們去年（聽不清楚）的情況進行比較，我認為那是 11，所以仍然比去年的情況略有下降。

Yes. The reinsurance treaties where you had the adverse and you had to reverse the profit sharing or reduced profit sharing, what was the circumstance there? Did that impact your own reserves? Clearly, they would have been offset -- what was that...

是的。在再保險條約中，您遇到了不利的情況，必須撤銷利潤分享或減少利潤分享，那裡的情況是什麼？這對你自己的儲備有影響嗎？顯然，它們會被抵消——那是什麼…

This is a very good point. Yes, these were older treaties prior to 2017 where there were claims that had some adverse development, and it just caused that ceding commission or that profit sharing that was associated with those treaties to reverse. So it had been accrued over a period of time. And that -- we used the word infrequent. I really didn't know how to describe it because it's not something that happens very often, but that profit commission was on older reinsurance treaties. But you're absolutely right. Obviously, it didn't impact the net aggregate development that we experienced in the quarter. It was just particular to those years.

這是一個非常好的觀點。是的，這些是 2017 年之前的舊條約，有人聲稱有一些不利的發展，這只是導致與這些條約相關的佣金或利潤分享的放棄。所以它是在一段時間內累積的。我們使用了“罕見”這個詞。我真的不知道如何描述它，因為這不是經常發生的事情，但利潤佣金是根據舊的再保險條約收取的。但你是絕對正確的。顯然，這並沒有影響我們在本季經歷的淨整體發展。這只是那些年特有的。

And then I'll ask 1 more and I'm being fairly rude, but the '20 and '21 accident years, kind of the COVID years, you're obviously taking gains on those. Any observations about how those have been developing?

然後我會再問1個，我相當粗魯，但是'20和'21事故年，有點像新冠年，你顯然在這些年中獲益。對這些進展有何觀察？

I think that's a great question. I would say that within our expectation, the COVID years for us are, I think, a little bit different than a lot of the industry expected. Yes, our claim counts were down per se, but yet we still had severe claims, right? So those claims are developing -- they're not developing any differently than any other accident year from that standpoint. So I think they're within our -- at this point, I would just say they're within our expectations for -- you're talking about '21 and '22, right, or '20 and '21 either way. Obviously, in '21, we had the cat claim in the fourth quarter. That hasn't developed any differently than our expectation that we had at the end of that accident year.

我認為這是一個很好的問題。我想說的是，在我們的預期之內，我認為新冠疫情時期與許多行業的預期有點不同。是的，我們的索賠數量本身有所下降，但我們仍然有嚴重的索賠，對吧？因此，這些說法正在發展——從這個角度來看，它們的發展與任何其他事故年份沒有任何不同。所以我認為它們在我們的範圍內——在這一點上，我只想說它們在我們的預期之內——你談論的是“21”和“22”，對，或者“20”和“21 」。顯然，在 21 年，我們在第四季度提出了巨額索賠。這與我們在事故年末時的預期沒有任何不同。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Matt Carletti with JMP.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自 JMP 的 Matt Carletti。

Mark covered a lot of ground there, so I don't have to -- and he was not being rude. Could you just maybe dive in a little deeper on the question he had about growth and specifically kind of some of the focus on what you're doing at agencies. I mean I noted you appointed a new Chief Sales Officer this summer. It feels like there's a little more concerted effort towards making sure maybe every -- no stone is left unturned within kind of your -- of course, your underwriting appetite. Could you just expand on that a little bit?

馬克在那裡涵蓋了很多基礎知識，所以我沒有必要——而且他並沒有粗魯。您能否更深入地探討他關於成長的問題，特別是對您在代理商所做的事情的一些關注。我的意思是，我注意到您今年夏天任命了一位新的首席銷售官。感覺好像需要更加協調一致的努力來確保您的承保胃口不遺餘力。能稍微擴充一下嗎？

That's a great way to put it no stone left unturned. I'll start with this. Our underwriting appetite and our discipline and risk selection has not changed. So I'll start there. You're absolutely right. We brought in a Chief Sales Officer, Ray Wise. And how you phrased it was -- the way I would phrase it is, I feel like we've elevated the focus within the company on our agent customers and our agent relationships.

這是不遺餘力地採取一切措施的好方法。我將從這個開始。我們的核保偏好以及我們的紀律和風險選擇沒有改變。所以我將從這裡開始。你是絕對正確的。我們聘請了首席銷售官雷·懷斯 (Ray Wise)。你的措辭是——我的措辭是，我覺得我們已經在公司內部提高了對代理客戶和代理關係的關注。

We've had Head of Sales in the past, but they were not at the executive level. So it's really having a person sitting at the table when we're making strategic decisions, focused on that agent customer and what we need to be doing from that standpoint. So I look for good things to come from that relationship. At the same time, even -- like I said before, even within the company, we have had a concerted effort in trying to change -- ease of doing business, working with our agent customers and our employees have really pushed hard on that. And sometimes it takes a while for these things to take root. And I feel like that momentum is starting to take root.

我們過去有過銷售主管，但他們不是執行職級的。因此，當我們做出策略決策時，實際上是有一個人坐在桌邊，專注於代理客戶以及從這個角度我們需要做什麼。所以我會從這種關係中尋找好的東西。同時，正如我之前所說，即使在公司內部，我們也齊心協力試圖改變業務的便利性，與我們的代理商客戶和員工的合作確實推動了這一點。有時這些東西需要一段時間才能紮根。我覺得這種勢頭正在開始紮根。

And our next question comes from Mark Hughes with Truist.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist 的 Mark Hughes。

Just a couple more. Any commentary on the construction end market. The concept of the next job is very important. How are you seeing that...

還有幾個。關於建築終端市場的任何評論。下一份工作的概念非常重要。你怎麼看這...

Right. My best way -- my best gauge of that is what's being reported to us in payrolls on a monthly basis. And our construction book, the payrolls have been relatively strong. They show both wage growth and some new employee count but not large, large increases. So from that aspect, it's holding up quite well.

正確的。我最好的方法——我最好的衡量標準是每月向我們報告的工資單。我們的建築業帳面數據、就業數據一直相對強勁。它們顯示了薪資成長和一些新員工數量，但成長幅度並不大。所以從這方面來說，它的表現還是不錯的。

I always like to remind people, we report out construction as an aggregate group. The largest class within that is roofing. Roofing risk is something that we think we really are experts at. And roofing is not always necessarily new construction. There's a maintenance component to that, which I think we benefit from. So even if there is a lag or a downturn in commercial construction, I feel like that holds up pretty well -- pretty resilient.

我總是喜歡提醒人們，我們將建設作為一個整體來報告。其中最大的一類是屋頂。我們認為我們確實是屋頂風險領域的專家。屋頂並不一定是新建的。其中有一個維護部分，我認為我們可以從中受益。因此，即使商業建築出現滯後或低迷，我覺得這種情況仍然保持得很好——相當有彈性。

And then what are your thoughts on capital? I know there is nice special dividend, I think. Where is that going to position you? I guess you've got, at this point, no debt if I'm looking at it properly, so kind of your underwriting leverage. If you did lever up with debt, how much more capacity could you add?

那麼您對資本有什麼看法呢？我認為我知道有很好的特別股息。這會將你定位在哪裡？我想，如果我正確看待的話，目前你已經沒有債務了，所以你的承保槓桿作用很大。如果你確實提高了債務槓桿，你可以增加多少產能？

Yes. I'll say this about the special dividend. And you're so right about thinking about it in terms of leverage. AMERISAFE has been profitable -- from an underwriting standpoint has been profitable for a very long time. And that has enabled us to build excess capital. And then when those rates started declining and the market really started softening, the question was to -- and I think the question the Board was asking itself is what do we do with this capital? Do we invest it in writing unprofitable business? Do we protect our margin?

是的。我會說一下特別股息。從槓桿的角度來看，你的想法是非常正確的。 AMERISAFE 已經實現盈利——從承保的角度來看，它已經盈利了很長一段時間。這使我們能夠累積過剩資本。然後，當這些利率開始下降並且市場真正開始疲軟時，問題是——我認為董事會問自己的問題是我們如何處理這些資本？我們是否將其投資於撰寫無利可圖的業務？我們保護我們的利潤嗎？

Obviously, our decision was to protect the margin. And so that, in turn, led to us declaring special dividends to return that capital to shareholders. At this point, we're starting to see some growth, which is great, as the decision was to return capital to the shareholders. But we've said this all along, and I'll repeat it is, as we are able to grow organically and put that capital to work to grow organically to generate the returns that our shareholders are accustomed to, I would expect there may be some change to that.

顯然，我們的決定是為了保護利潤。因此，這反過來導致我們宣布特別股息，以將資本返還給股東。此時，我們開始看到一些成長，這很好，因為決定將資本回饋給股東。但我們一直在說這一點，我會重複一遍，因為我們能夠有機增長，並將這些資本用於有機增長，以產生我們的股東習慣的回報，我預計可能會有對此進行一些改變。

But as of right now, we're seeing momentum, but we're not there yet, right? We're not there yet. And then, of course, there's always the possibility of a merger and acquisition. You mentioned we have no debt on the balance sheet. So there's -- that's another use of capital, if we were to go out and buy something. And we have a share repurchase program as well. And then we haven't purchased any shares recently, but there's still roughly a little over $12 million left in that share repurchase program.

但截至目前，我們看到了勢頭，但我們還沒有達到目標，對嗎？我們還沒到那兒。當然，合併和收購的可能性總是存在的。您提到我們的資產負債表上沒有債務。所以，如果我們要出去買東西，那就是資本的另一個用途。我們還有股票回購計畫。最近我們沒有買任何股票，但股票回購計畫中還剩下約 1,200 萬美元多一點。

Appreciate that. And then loss cost trends, I don't know if you put that in the release or made a comment, but just sort of curious what you see out of the NCCI.

感謝。然後是損失成本趨勢，我不知道您是否將其放在新聞稿中或發表了評論，但只是有點好奇您從 NCCI 中看到了什麼。

Yes. I think for NCCI's latest number for 2023 and going into 2024 is somewhere around -- averaging around, somewhere around 7.5%. So loss costs that were effective -- that became effective this quarter for AMERISAFE average around 5%. So still rate declines or still loss cost declines, but maybe a slowing in that decline.

是的。我認為 NCCI 2023 年和 2024 年的最新數據大約在 7.5% 左右。因此，有效的損失成本——本季 AMERISAFE 的平均損失成本約為 5%。因此，利率仍然下降，或者損失成本仍然下降，但下降的速度可能會放緩。

But if I'm being completely candid, there's nothing on a macro basis that I see in the industry either in data that were reported or just what other CEOs were sharing that is going to move that needle anytime in the near future in terms of approved loss costs. I think that's just something we're -- pardon? Thank you, Mark. I appreciate that.

但如果我完全坦白的話，從宏觀的角度來看，無論是報告的數據還是其他執行長分享的內容，我在行業中都看不到任何東西會在不久的將來在批准的方面產生任何推動作用。損失成本。我想這就是我們的事——原諒嗎？謝謝你，馬克。我很感激。

Thank you. And that does conclude the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the conference back over to Janelle Frost for any additional or closing remarks.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。現在我將把會議轉回給加奈爾·弗羅斯特（Janelle Frost），讓她發表補充或結束語。

We are pleased with the quarter's results, particularly when driven by the fundamentals we focus on, disciplined underwriting, proactive safety and extensive claims management. Thank you for joining us today.

我們對本季的業績感到滿意，特別是在我們關注的基本面、嚴格的承保、主動安全和廣泛的索賠管理的推動下。感謝您今天加入我們。

Well, thank you. And that does conclude today's conference. We do thank you for your participation, and have an excellent day.

嗯，謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的參與，祝您有個愉快的一天。