Amerisafe Inc (AMSF) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the AmeriSafe third quarter 2025 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Kathryn Shirley. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 AmeriSafe 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄影。現在，我想把會議交給凱瑟琳雪莉。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the AmeriSafe 2025 third quarter investor call.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。歡迎參加 AmeriSafe 2025 年第三季投資者電話會議。

If you have not received the earnings release, it is available on our website at AmeriSafe.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.

如果您尚未收到收益報告，請造訪我們的網站 AmeriSafe.com 查看。本次通話正在錄音。今天電話會議的錄音將可以回放。有關如何觀看回放的詳細信息，請參閱財報。

During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements intended to fall within the Safe Harbor provided under the securities laws. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied in these statements if the underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect or if the results of risk, 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 10K, Form 10Qs, and other reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在本次電話會議中，我們將發表一些前瞻性聲明，這些聲明旨在符合證券法規定的安全港條款。這些陳述是基於當前的預期和假設，但存在各種風險和不確定性。如果基本假設被證明是錯誤的，或者風險、不確定性和其他因素（包括在盈利公告中討論的因素、在今天的電話會議中發表的評論以及我們在 10-K 表格、10-Q 表格和其他向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告和文件中“風險因素”部分中討論的因素）導致實際結果與這些聲明中明示或暗示的結果存在重大聲明。

We do not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statement.

我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

I will now turn the call over to Gerry Frost, AmeriSafe's President and CEO.

現在我將把電話交給 AmeriSafe 的總裁兼執行長 Gerry Frost。

Thank you, Kathryn, and good morning.

謝謝你，凱瑟琳，早安。

We are pleased that our growth strategy in this competitive market is yielding a healthy 20.5% return on average equity and a 90.6% combined ratio for the quarter. Our continued success in the market reflects the strength of the Ameriafe value proposition.

我們很高興，在這個競爭激烈的市場中，我們的成長策略取得了令人滿意的成果，本季平均股本回報率達到 20.5%，綜合比率達到 90.6%。我們在市場上的持續成功反映了Ameriafe價值主張的強大實力。

At our core, we are a profitable underwriter focused on knowing our risks, pricing them appropriately, and servicing our policyholders and their workers. In doing so, we are a better carrier for our agents and create long-term value for our shareholders.

我們的核心業務是獲利性承保，專注於了解風險、合理定價，並為我們的投保人及其員工提供服務。這樣做，我們就能更好地服務我們的代理商，並為我們的股東創造長期價值。

This is our sixth consecutive quarter of top-line growth. Voluntary premiums on policies written in the quarter grew 10.6%. Combined with audit premiums, our gross premiums written grew 7.2%, and net earned grew 6.2% over the third quarter of 2024.

這是我們連續第六個季度實現營收成長。本季保單的自願保費增加了 10.6%。加上審計保費，我們的毛保費收入在 2024 年第三季增長了 7.2%，淨收入增長了 6.2%。

We are seeing the compound benefits of disciplined underwriting, robust new business production, and strong renewal performance.

我們看到了嚴格的核保、強勁的新業務成長和良好的續保業績帶來的複合效益。

Turning to losses, our accident year loss ratio was in line with the prior year and quarter at 71%. Frequency remains at historically low levels, while severity continues to not higher on a year over year basis.

就損失而言，我們的事故年度損失率與前一年和上一季持平，為 71%。發病率仍處於歷史低位，而發病嚴重程度也未逐年上升。

We are confident that our claims handling practices coupled with upfront risk selection remain consistent and disciplined in the current environment.

我們相信，在當前環境下，我們的理賠處理流程以及前期風險選擇仍然保持一致性和嚴謹性。

Thus, the company experienced 8.9 million of favorable reserve development on prior accident years, primarily accident years 2020 and prior.

因此，該公司在先前的事故年度（主要是 2020 年及以前的事故年度）獲得了 890 萬美元的有利儲備發展。

In addition to announcing the quarterly results, we also announced the board of directors declared both a regular quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share and a $1 special dividend payable on December 12, 2025 to shareholders as of a record as of December 5, 2025.

除了公佈季度業績外，我們還宣布董事會批准派發每股 0.39 美元的常規季度股息和每股 1 美元的特別股息，將於 2025 年 12 月 12 日支付給截至 2025 年 12 月 5 日登記在冊的股東。

The Board takes a comprehensive approach when evaluating capital deployment, considering both the regular quarterly dividend, share repurchases, and any special dividend within the broader framework of Ameri's capital position, operating performance, and future growth opportunities.

董事會在評估資本部署時採取全面的方法，將常規季度股息、股票回購和任何特別股息納入 Ameri 的資本狀況、經營業績和未來成長機會的更廣泛框架內考慮。

This balanced strategy ensures that we continue to reward shareholders while maintaining the flexibility to invest in the business and support long-term value creation.

這種平衡的策略確保我們能夠繼續回報股東，同時保持對業務進行投資和支持長期價值創造的靈活性。

Our capital management philosophy remains consistent. Profitability drives capital, and capital is deployed with discipline. We are proud of our track record. Over the past 13 years, AmeriSafe has declared nearly $50 per share in total dividends, including $12.68 in regular dividends and $37.25 in special dividends per share.

我們的資本管理理念始終如一。獲利能力驅動資本，資本的運用則需要嚴謹自律。我們為過往的業績感到自豪。過去 13 年，AmeriSafe 已宣布每股派發近 50 美元的總股息，其中包括每股 12.68 美元的常規股息和每股 37.25 美元的特別股息。

Along with managing capital, the continued investment we are making in our people and technology is reflected in our solid top-line growth at industry leading returns, delivering long-term value to our shareholders.

除了管理資本外，我們對員工和技術的持續投資也體現在我們穩健的營收成長和產業領先的回報上，為股東創造了長期價值。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Andy to discuss the financials.

接下來，我會把電話交給安迪，讓他來討論財務問題。

Thank you, Gerry, and good morning to everyone. For the third quarter of 2025, AmeriSafe reported net income of $13.8 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, and operating net income of $10.6 million or $0.55 per diluted share.

謝謝你，Gerry，大家早安。2025 年第三季度，AmeriSafe 報告淨收入為 1,380 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.72 美元；營業淨收入為 1,060 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.55 美元。

During the third quarter of 2024, net income was $14.3 million or $0.75 per diluted share, and operating net income was $11.1 million or $0.58 per diluted share.

2024 年第三季度，淨收入為 1,430 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.75 美元；營業淨收入為 1,110 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.58 美元。

Gross written premiums were $80.3 million in the quarter compared with $74.9 million in Q3 of 2024, increasing 7.2%. Audit premiums increased the top-line by $2.5 million compared with $4 million in the prior year quarter. Despite the audit premium headwinds, voluntary premium growth of 10.6% fueled by new business production and strong retention is driving top-line growth.

本季毛保費收入為 8,030 萬美元，而 2024 年第三季為 7,490 萬美元，成長了 7.2%。審計保費使總收入增加了 250 萬美元，而去年同期為 400 萬美元。儘管審計保費面臨不利因素，但受新業務成長和強勁的客戶留存率推動，自願保費成長了 10.6%，從而帶動了營收成長。

Our total underwriting and other expenses were $22.1 million in the quarter compared with $21.3 million in the prior year quarter, which resulted in an expense ratio of 31.1% compared with 31.7% in the prior year quarter. The expense ratio reflects ongoing investment in AmeriSafe's growth as we see elevated opportunity in our target markets. Our effective tax rate was 21% compared to 19.5% in the prior year quarter.

本季我們的承保及其他費用總額為 2,210 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,130 萬美元，費用率為 31.1%，而去年同期為 31.7%。費用率反映了我們對 AmeriSafe 發展的持續投資，因為我們看到了目標市場中不斷出現的機會。我們的實際稅率為 21%，而去年同期為 19.5%。

Turning to our investment portfolio, in the third quarter, net investment investment income decreased 12.3% to $6.6 million driven by a decrease in average investable assets following the payment of the special dividend in the fourth quarter of 2024. At quarter end, we held approximately $817 million in investments, cash and cash equivalents compared to $899 million at September 30, 2024.

再來看我們的投資組合，第三季淨投資收益下降了 12.3%，至 660 萬美元，原因是 2024 年第四季支付了特別股息後，平均可投資資產減少。截至季末，我們持有約 8.17 億美元的投資、現金和現金等價物，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，這一數字為 8.99 億美元。

The reinvestment rate environment remained fairly strong, with some moderation compared to the second quarter of 2025. Yields on new investments exceeded portfolio roll off by 77 basis points, driving the portfolio tax equivalent book yield to 3.9%, relatively flat versus the third quarter of 2024. The yield on cash held in money market funds ended the quarter at 4% compared to 4.8% at the end of the prior year quarter.

再投資利率環境依然相當強勁，與 2025 年第二季相比有所緩和。新投資的收益率比投資組合的到期收益率高出 77 個基點，使投資組合的稅收等效帳面收益率達到 3.9%，與 2024 年第三季相比基本持平。貨幣市場基金持有的現金殖利率本季末為 4%，而上年同期末為 4.8%。

The unrealized gain for the equity securities was $4.1 million compared to $3.9 million in the prior year quarter. Both periods were driven by strength in the US equity market.

股權證券的未實現收益為 410 萬美元，而去年同期為 390 萬美元。這兩個時期都得益於美國股市的強勁表現。

Our investment portfolio remains high-quality, carrying a double an average minus credit rating with a duration of 4.3 years.

我們的投資組合依然保持高品質，信用評級為平均減少兩倍，期限為 4.3 年。

The composition of the portfolio is 61% of municipal bonds, 21% in corporate bonds, 3% in US treasuries and agencies, 7% in equity securities, and 8% in cash and other investments. Approximately 45% of the portfolio is classified as health and maturity, which maintains a net unrealized loss position of $7.6 million.

此投資組合的構成如下：61% 為市政債券，21% 為公司債，3% 為美國國債和機構債券，7% 為股票，8% 為現金和其他投資。約 45% 的投資組合被歸類為健康和成熟，目前淨未實現虧損為 760 萬美元。

As a reminder, these securities are carried at amortized cost and therefore unrealized gains and losses are not reflected in our reported book value. Our capital position is strong with a high-quality balance sheet, solid loss reserve position, and conservative investment portfolio. During the third quarter, the company repurchased roughly 31,000 shares at average cost of $43.72 per share totaling $1.3 million. And finally, a couple of other topics. Book value per share increased to $14.47 up 7.1% year-to-date. Statutory surplus was $259 million compared to $235.1 million a year in 2024.

需要提醒的是，這些證券是以攤餘成本計量的，因此未實現的損益並未反映在我們報告的帳面價值中。我們資本實力雄厚，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。第三季度，該公司以每股 43.72 美元的平均成本回購了約 31,000 股股票，總計 130 萬美元。最後，還有幾個其他話題。每股帳面價值增至 14.47 美元，年初至今成長 7.1%。法定盈餘為 2.59 億美元，而 2024 年的年度盈餘為 2.351 億美元。

Lastly, we'll be filing our Form 10Q with the SEC later today, October 30, 2025 after the close of the market. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator for the question-and-answer portion, operator.

最後，我們將於今天（2025 年 10 月 30 日）股市收盤後向美國證券交易委員會提交 10Q 表格。接下來，我將把電話交給接線員進行問答環節，接線生。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Matt Carletti.

馬特·卡萊蒂。

I was open maybe to start off voluntary premium growth has been kind of solid double-digits for a couple of quarters now, which is a great kind of emerging trend. Could you talk a little bit about where you're seeing success, kind of where that where that growth is coming from, if it's kind of any particular areas or or maybe it's just more broad based and it's pretty evenly across all aspects of your business.

我原本打算從自願保費成長開始，因為自願保費成長已經連續幾個季度保持了兩位數的穩定成長，這是一個很好的新興趨勢。您能否談談您認為哪些方面取得了成功，這種成長來自哪裡，是集中在某些特定領域，還是成長更為廣泛，並且均勻地體現在您業務的各個方面？

Thank you for noticing and and I'm also pleased to say it's more broad-based. We have grown policy count, in the quarter over the second quarter we grew policy count roughly 2.7% on a year to year basis, it's more like 11% year over year for policy count. So we're growing policy count, which is very important. Our insured payrolls are expanding as well, which is also a positive. And particularly in this market, when you read all of the headlines about things that are happening in unemployment and wage growth expectations, our skilled labor jobs in our high hazard industries are faring pretty well, so that helps support premiums in terms of payroll growth.

感謝您的關注，我也很高興地告訴您，它的基礎更加廣泛。我們的保單數量有所增長，與第二季度相比，本季保單數量同比增長約 2.7%，而去年同期保單數量同比增長約 11%。因此，我們的政策數量正在增加，這非常重要。我們的投保工資總額也在擴大，這也是一個正面的訊號。尤其是在當前市場環境下，當你閱讀所有關於失業率和工資增長預期的新聞標題時，你會發現我們高風險行業的熟練勞動力崗位表現相當不錯，這有助於從工資增長的角度支撐保費。

We're seeing still very strong retention on a renewal basis for the quarter, our renewal retention for the policies for which we offered renewal was 93.6%. A very healthy number I think actually that was the same number we had prior year quarter so good even in this crazy competitive market that we're in we'll we'll be able to maintain those accounts that we want to maintain through a lot of collaborative effort from the Ameri employees, so, I can't emphasize that enough, we have a seasoned sales staff.

本季續保率依然非常強勁，我們提供續保的保單續保率達到了 93.6%。我認為這是一個非常健康的數字，實際上與去年同期持平，所以即使在我們身處的競爭如此激烈的市場中，我們也能夠透過 Ameri 員工的通力合作來維護我們想要維護的客戶。因此，我必須強調，我們擁有一支經驗豐富的銷售團隊。

The way we utilize our safety services as part of the risk selection process is truly a value add not only for our underwriters and helping our underwriters understand the risk and price the risk appropriately, but I, I'll see a value add for our policyholders and their agents, the fact that that is Ameri's contact that they have and that builds relationships with those policyholders and with those agents, so it's critical to what we do and it's unique to AmeriSafe.

我們將安全服務作為風險選擇流程的一部分，這不僅對我們的承保人來說具有真正的價值，幫助他們了解風險並合理定價，而且我認為對我們的投保人和他們的代理人來說也具有真正的價值，因為這是他們與 Ameri 的聯繫，有助於與這些投保人和代理人建立關係，因此這對我們所做的工作至關重要，也是 AmeriSafe 獨有的。

So so I think that's huge on our part. And then I can't, I certainly can't, not mention our claim hand experience, from a renewal retention standpoint, I truly believe the way we handle claims benefits us from a renewals perspective. If you've had a claim. And it's handled by an AmeriSafe employee. We handle it, I think the right way, and we treat those injured workers well, and that's meaningful to a policyholder.

所以我覺得這對我們來說意義重大。而且，我絕對不能不提我們在理賠方面的經驗，從續約留存率的角度來看，我真的相信我們處理理賠的方式對續約是有利的。如果你有過理賠經驗。此事由 AmeriSafe 的員工處理。我認為我們處理得當，我們善待受傷的工人，這對投保人來說意義重大。

So all of those things together I think is really adding to the growth effort in terms of just the amount of collaboration that we're having, we've really been focused on ease of doing business speed to market, and it's just compounding and bearing fruit now in those growth numbers and I'll caveat that by saying all without, we're not adding la we haven't added class codes, we haven't added, we haven't expanded geographically. It's really market penetration and better serving, better working with our agents.

所以我認為所有這些因素加在一起，確實促進了我們的成長，尤其是在合作方面。我們一直專注於簡化業務流程、加快產品上市速度，而這些努力正在不斷積累，並在成長數據中結出碩果。需要說明的是，所有這些成長都未涉及其他因素，例如我們沒有增加課程代碼，也沒有進行地理擴張。這實際上是為了提高市場滲透率，更好地服務客戶，並更好地與代理商合作。

Great, thank you. And then if I kind of try to tie it one step further, so as I look at your business, like, I mean financially kind of earnings returns have been strong for many years now and really unchanged if you want to look at ROE or something like that. So really strong kind of where the business is, you talked a little bit about the special dividend at the outset of the call and it is a little bit smaller than kind of some of the previous year. So would I be correct to kind of interpret that, maybe an output of that is the expression of your guys' confidence in the kind of the durability of that growth or that growth going forward and that that's where you'd prefer to you know allocate capital versus giving it back those growth opportunities are there.

太好了，謝謝。然後，如果我再進一步分析一下，例如我看一下你們的業務，我的意思是，從財務角度來看，你們的盈利回報多年來一直很強勁，而且如果你看淨資產收益率（ROE）之類的指標，它實際上並沒有變化。所以，就目前業務狀況而言，確實非常強勁。您在電話會議開始時談到了特別股息，它比前一年的股息要少一些。所以，我這樣理解是否正確：這或許表達了你們對這種成長的可持續性或未來成長的信心，以及你們更願意將資金配置到這些成長機會上，而不是讓資金回流。

Well said, Mr. Carletti, that is exactly what you should infer into the dividend. I mean, I'm excited about the dollar dividend by no question, but I think it definitely infers that we believe what we have going here in terms of our growth strategy is not short-lived. That, I believe it has longevity, and we, we've said since the very beginning when we started paying out the special dividend, part of the reason that we were returning that capital to shareholders is because we had internally made the decision. It wasn't the right time to really Pour that into organic growth because we wanted that growth to be profitable growth.

卡萊蒂先生說得好，這正是您應該從股息中推斷出來的。我的意思是，毫無疑問，我對美元分紅感到興奮，但我認為這絕對表明我們相信，我們目前的成長策略不會是短暫的。我相信它具有持久性，而且我們從一開始派發特別股息時就說過，我們把這筆資金返還給股東的部分原因是，這是我們內部做出的決定。當時並不是真正將資金投入有機成長的合適時機，因為我們希望成長的是獲利成長。

So now we've had these quarters of top-line growth and it's starting to flow through on their earnings. And so that dividend, we're using that capital and employing that capital to toward that organic growth.

現在，我們已經經歷了幾個季度的營收成長，而且這種成長開始反映在他們的獲利上。因此，我們將股息用於推動自身成長，並將這些資金用於實現內生成長。

Fantastic. I'm glad I, put those puzzle pieces together, okay. Thanks for the color, appreciate it.

極好的。我很高興我把這些拼圖碎片拼好了。謝謝你提供的色彩，非常感謝。

Mark Hughes from Truist.

來自 Truist 的 Mark Hughes。

In the spirit of the question about the special dividend and the growth opportunities, how do you view your leverage now and how much flexibility do you have on the balance sheet?

關於特別股息和成長機會的問題，您如何看待您目前的槓桿率以及您在資產負債表上有多少靈活性？

And this would be underwriting leverage.

這將是承保槓桿。

It is going up, but it's that one. I mean, from our standpoint, I don't think it's really changed. It's, I think it's increased a little bit, but it's right at one.

它確實在上漲，但就是那一個。我的意思是，從我們的角度來看，我認為情況並沒有真正改變。我認為它稍微增加了一點，但正好是 1。

Yeah, and then what what would you see is kind of the upper bound, kind of comfortably, where would you be able to take that?

是的，那你認為它的上限是什麼？比較舒適的上限是什麼？你能把它帶到哪裡？

I would say about 1.5 mark.

我估計大概是1.5分。

Okay. What's the latest on medical inflation?

好的。醫療通膨的最新狀況如何？

There's been quite a few articles. [A&B] actually put out a segment report on workers' compensation, and they, spoke to medical inflation. Certainly, everyone has their eye on it. We're not immune to medical inflation

已經有不少相關文章了。 [A&B] 實際上發布了一篇關於工傷賠償的專題報道，其中談到了醫療通膨問題。當然，每個人都在關注這件事。我們也無法免受醫療通膨的影響。

At the same time, I believe the fee schedules and the fee structure and workers' compensation is probably abating that to some degree for workers' compensation much more than it is for non-workers' compensation things people are seeing in their healthcare renewals and those kinds of things. So I do think we have some relief from the fee schedules in terms of medical inflation. Utilization is something, and I think we talked about this on the last call, utilization is something NCCI sort of pointed to when they talked about the 6% increase, they saw in medical inflation.

同時，我認為收費標準、收費結構以及工傷賠償制度可能在一定程度上緩解了這種情況，尤其是在工傷賠償方面，其效果遠勝於人們在醫療保健續保等方面看到的非工傷賠償問題。所以我認為，就醫療通膨而言，我們的收費標準會有所緩解。利用率是一個問題，我想我們在上次通話中也討論過這個問題，NCCI 在談到醫療通膨 6% 的增長時也提到了利用率。

Something certainly, we're keeping our eyes on, particularly well, home health I've been talking about for a number of years, and I'll continue to talk about home health. But even in terms of physician visits, what we, we've kind of noticed a little bit more PA visits are physician assistant visits which sometimes lead to additional visits because we, a doctor has to sign off on a release of a patient. So we're just keeping our eye on that. I don't know if there's anything that's more anecdotal than in the data yet, but utilization is something we want to keep our eye on since the fee schedules seem to be doing their job and we know that there is a shortage in the healthcare industry, so in terms of some services being available. So those are the things we're watching out for.

當然，我們正在密切關注家庭醫療保健，我已經談論家庭醫療保健好幾年了，我也會繼續談論家庭醫療保健。但即使在醫生就診方面，我們也注意到，醫師助理的就診次數有所增加，這有時會導致額外的就診，因為我們醫生必須簽署患者的出院證明。所以我們會密切關注此事。我不知道除了數據之外，還有什麼更具軼事性的證據，但利用率是我們想要密切關注的，因為收費標準似乎正在發揮作用，而且我們知道醫療保健行業存在短缺，因此某些服務的可用性也存在問題。所以，這些就是我們關注的重點。

What's in the latest trend in terms of the approved state loss costs, the most recent ones that any trend there.

就已批准的州損失成本而言，最新趨勢是什麼？最近有哪些趨勢？

Great. Great question. So we have, I think, 4 states that had increases Missouri, DC, Nevada, California, and we talked about California on the last call.

偉大的。問得好。所以，我認為有 4 個州的病例增加了：密蘇裡州、華盛頓特區、內華達州和加利福尼亞州，我們在上次通話中談到了加利福尼亞州。

Those are the ones that I can think had increases. On average, what we're seeing in most of the loss costs for 2026 are already in and approved, and what we're seeing is pretty steady state, mid single-digit declines.

我能想到的成長的就只有這些了。平均而言，我們看到 2026 年的大部分損失成本已經確定並獲得批准，而且我們看到的是相當穩定的狀態，中等個位數的下降幅度。

I did look at the CIAB study, because they survey agents and ask them what they're seeing in terms of their clients' renewals, and I noticed, and they haven't put their third quarter day out, but in their second quarter data more than 50% we're basically seeing no change.

我確實看過CIAB的研究，因為他們會調查代理人，詢問他們客戶的續保情況，我注意到，雖然他們還沒有公佈第三季的數據，但在第二季的數據中，超過50%的人表示基本上沒有變化。

So that would say if that's an accurate, depiction of what agents are seeing or what's actually happening in the marketplace that would lead you to believe that carriers are being relatively disciplined about well, okay, the loss cost may be down in terms of the absolute loss cost, but what they're using in terms of their average pricing, it's sort of flat. At least based on that agent survey, so that's a sign of I would speak to relative discipline in the marketplace.

所以，如果這準確反映了代理商所看到的情況或市場上實際發生的事情，那麼就說明保險公司在定價方面相對比較自律，雖然絕對損失成本可能有所下降，但他們使用的平均定價卻基本上保持不變。至少根據那份經紀人調查來看，這顯示市場相對自律。

Yeah, you'd mentioned your insured payrolls are expanding. Any specific comments on wage growth, how, wage growth is compared to in 3Q last few quarters.

是的，您之前提到過您的投保員工人數正在增加。關於薪資成長，有什麼具體評論嗎？第三季的薪資成長情況與過去幾季相比如何？

Right, yeah, so wage growth in the quarter we saw about 6.7%. The total was about 8.9%. 6.7% was actual wage changes, and a new employee count was 2%. So I was happy to see that 2% in new employee count, if you recall last quarter it was actually slightly negative and I wondered, okay, is this a blip or is this a data point in in terms of is there something happening with integration with our particular employee base, but it sort of bounced back to norms this quarter so I feel pretty confident about that was just a blip last quarter.

是的，本季我們看到薪資成長約為 6.7%。總計約 8.9%。其中 6.7% 為實質薪資變化，2% 為新增員工人數。所以我很高興看到新員工人數增加了 2%。如果你還記得上個季度的情況，實際上略微為負，我當時就在想，好吧，這只是個小波動，還是說這反映了我們特定員工群體的整合方面出現了一些問題？但這個季度它已經恢復正常，所以我相當確信這只是上個季度的一個小波動。

Yeah, what was the wage last quarter wage growth?

是的，上個季度薪資成長率是多少？

5.7.

5.7.

Okay.

好的。

So yeah, if I look at the last four quarters it was 5 5,6 3,5 7,6 7.

所以，如果我看過去四個季度，分別是 5 5, 6 3, 5 7, 6 7。

Okay. Very good. How about the large losses in the quarter?

好的。非常好。那季巨額虧損是怎麼回事？

We ended the quarter with 17 large losses over a million dollars.

本季末，我們出現了 17 起超過一百萬美元的大額虧損。

That's here today.

今天就在這裡。

Year-to-date, yes.

今年迄今為止，是的。

Yeah, it's up a little bit, isn't it?

是的，價格稍微上漲了一點，不是嗎？

I think at this point last year we were at 13 if I recall correctly for 2024, but then we had an uptick in the fourth quarter again, I'll go to my favorite thing, unfortunately these things are lumpy. I never know what quarters they're going to happen in.

我記得去年這個時候，我們對 2024 年的預測是 13，但到了第四季又出現了回升。我要說我最喜歡的事了，可惜的是，這些事情總是起伏不定。我永遠不知道它們會在哪個季度發生。

And I'll also say this when you, when we file the cue later today, I believe you'll look at claim counts. Reported claim counts on a year-to-date basis are ever so slightly up, and but I think it's a pretty remarkable number when you think about how much we've grown policy count, yet the claim counts really haven't varied very much. So I think that speaks to what I was saying earlier about frequency is low.

我還要說，今天晚些時候我們提交申請時，我相信你會查看索賠數量。今年迄今為止的報告索賠數量略有上升，但考慮到我們的保單數量增長了多少，而索賠數量實際上並沒有太大變化，我認為這是一個相當驚人的數字。所以我認為這印證了我之前所說的頻率低的問題。

I mean there's no denying that.

我的意思是，這一點毋庸置疑。

Yeah, and then anything on the competitive front, Brand X, talking more about getting into high hazard.

是的，還有任何與競爭相關的事宜，例如 X 品牌，都在談論如何進入高風險領域。

Great question. It is still extremely competitive. We haven't, there hasn't been a lot of mover movement in terms of competitors either increasing or decreasing their appetite. I think we see it occasionally in a particular class, maybe in a given state, but it's usually because maybe they had a bad experience in that particular state or class code.

問得好。競爭依然非常激烈。目前來看，競爭對手在增加或減少需求方面並沒有出現太多的變動。我認為我們偶爾會在某個特定的班級或某個特定的州看到這種情況，但這通常是因為他們在該特定州或班級代碼中有過糟糕的經歷。

That's actually one of the selling points for AmeriSafe with our agents is the fact that We are so consistent about our approach, we've been doing this since 1,986, and if you look at our footprint and the classes of business that we underwrite, there's a lot of stability there and that's actually to me one of the value propositions for agents for AmeriSafe.

實際上，AmeriSafe 向我們的代理商推銷的一大賣點是，我們始終如一地堅持我們的方法，我們從 1986 年就開始這樣做了，如果你看看我們的業務範圍和我們承保的業務類別，就會發現其中蘊含著很大的穩定性，而這實際上是 AmeriSafe 對代理商的價值主張之一。

Yeah, any. Any thoughts when we think about audit premium obviously that's led to some just a little bit of headwind in terms of the written premium, but corrected for that obviously you've been up double-digits if you're seeing a little more wage growth, does that a positive for audit premium or should that continue to moderate what the what the puts and takes then?

是的，任何一種。考慮到審計保費，這顯然對已發行保費造成了一些不利影響，但考慮到這一點，保費顯然已經實現了兩位數的增長。如果薪資成長略有增加，這對審計保費來說是利好還是應該繼續抑制？那麼，市場對審計保費的看法又會如何呢？

Yeah, that's a really interesting way to look at it, I, this is just my take on it. I do feel that the wage growth numbers that we're seeing now speak well to future audit premium. At the same time, I have to be very cognizant of all the things that are happening. In the economy right now with inflation and you know everybody's talking about jobs and we're seeing these headlines of major layoffs.

是的，這真是一個很有趣的看待問題的角度，這只是我個人的看法。我認為，我們目前看到的薪資成長數據預示著未來審計溢價將上漲。同時，我必須時刻關注正在發生的一切事情。在當前經濟情勢下，通貨膨脹加劇，大家都在談論就業問題，我們也看到了大規模裁員的新聞報導。

I feel our industry groups being the skilled laborers are somewhat protected from the top. Types of layoffs that we seem to be seeing nationwide, a lot of those are, at least being anecdotally being pointed to things like, oh, we're, AI is helping us gain efficiencies, etc. Etc. And that's why we're lowering headcount. But I do think companies are looking for efficiencies as well. That being said, with skilled labor jobs, a little bit of a different story there. So if we can maintain the wage growth, it should bear well for future audit premiums. Moderating, I would think over time.

我覺得我們這些技術工人所在的產業群體在某種程度上受到了來自高層的保護。我們似乎在全國範圍內看到各種類型的裁員，其中許多（至少從一些零星的例子來看）都指向諸如「人工智慧正在幫助我們提高效率」等等原因。這就是我們減少員工人數的原因。但我認為企業也在尋求提高效率。話雖如此，但對於技術性勞動職位來說，情況就略有不同了。因此，如果我們能夠維持薪資成長，這將有利於未來的審計溢價。我認為隨著時間的推移，情況會有所改善。

Yeah. Okay. And then the last standard question, how about the construction? In market, the next job being important, any observations there?

是的。好的。最後還有一個常見問題，那就是施工狀況如何？在就業市場中，下一份工作至關重要，您對此有什麼看法？

Yeah, based on the payrolls that are being reported to us and the fact that, I I'll point to that new employee count number kind of bouncing back to normal, the economies for our insured base are holding up really well as of right now.

是的，根據我們收到的工資報告以及新員工人數逐漸恢復正常這一事實來看，我們投保人群的經濟狀況目前確實保持良好。

Yeah. Okay, well, thank you very much, appreciate it, Gerry.

是的。好的，非常感謝，格里。

Robert Farnam from Janney.

來自詹尼的羅伯特·法納姆。

Hey there, good morning. I, there was a Mark, you asked the question about the claims counts, given the growth and top line in the graph and the number of policies.

你好，早安。我，馬克，你問了關於索賠數量的問題，考慮到圖表中的增長和總額以及保單數量。

I actually I had a question on your claims staff. I mean, did you, have you increased claims staff to be able to handle an influx of more claims, even though I understand that the frequencies down, so it really hasn't happened yet, but I'm just kind of curious how your claims staff is situated in case claims do start to increase.

我其實有個關於你們理賠部門的問題。我的意思是，你們是否增加了理賠人員以應對可能出現的理賠激增？雖然我知道理賠頻率有所下降，所以這種情況還沒有真正發生，但我只是有點好奇，如果理賠量真的開始增加，你們的理賠人員是如何安排的。

No, we have not really increased the number of claims staff, but I'll back backtrack on that a little bit to say, we run a very lean organization, but at the same time when our claim counts were dipping down, we also did not decrease our claims staff because of the expertise they bring to the table and we want to keep those inventories really low, that's not something that we felt like we should dial down and dial back then try to dial backup. So, the number of claims staff has not changed.

不，我們並沒有真正增加理賠人員的數量，但我要稍微解釋一下，我們運營的是一個非常精簡的組織，但與此同時，當我們的理賠數量下降時，我們也沒有減少理賠人員，因為他們帶來了專業知識，而且我們希望保持庫存非常低，我們覺得不應該先削減人員，然後再試圖補充人員。因此，理賠人員數量沒有變化。

Okay, yeah, I figured they have, I mean, I understand they have a lower volume of claims they already handled, so I didn't, I wasn't surprised that they would be able to handle it in house, but, just curious, do you guys, are you actively looking to expand into any other states? And if so, what's causing you not to want not to at this point? I'm just kind of curious if you're even looking at this point.

好的，是的，我猜他們有，我的意思是，我知道他們處理的索賠數量較少，所以我並不驚訝他們能夠內部處理，但是，我只是好奇，你們是否正在積極尋求擴展到其他州？如果是這樣，是什麼原因導致你現在不想這麼做？我只是有點好奇你現在有沒有註意到這一點。

We are constantly looking, we have a committee here that is always looking at class codes and geographies of where we're not and maybe where we should be or where we are and maybe we're not having a great experience, whatever the case may be. And so I would always say that we are continually considering that, nothing on the near horizon.

我們一直在尋找答案，我們在這裡有一個委員會，專門負責查看課程代碼和地理位置，看看我們目前不在哪些地方，也許我們應該在哪裡，或者我們目前在哪裡，也許我們的體驗並不好，無論情況如何。因此，我總是會說我們一直在考慮這個問題，但近期還沒有任何進展。

Right, okay.

好的。

And the last question I had was on the fee schedules. Obviously, it sounds like that that's helping to contain medical costs. It just doesn't know, on average how long do fee schedules stay in place before they're renewed and you see that, fee schedules are renewed, that will that have an impact.

我最後一個問題是關於收費標準的。顯然，這似乎有助於控制醫療成本。它只是不知道收費標準平均會維持多久才會更新，而你看到收費標準更新了，這是否會產生影響。

Yeah, very appropriate. They are updated somewhat regularly and of course a lot of them are based on, there's a lot of things based off Medicare and Medicaid. So however, how often that gets updated and plus it also there's also a political side to that. If I can say, if workers' compensation becomes an issue in any given state legislatively, they will get involved to make some things happen and as of right now, and I'll knock on this wooden desk, say workers' comp doesn't seem to be at the top of anyone's agenda because there's so many other things happening in the PNC space, particularly with homeowners and auto, that legislators are more apt to try to find solutions for, and workers' comp's been pretty kind of steady state. So I think employers are relatively happy with the, things that are happening.

是的，非常貼切。它們會定期更新，當然，其中許多內容都是基於聯邦醫療保險和醫療補助計劃的。然而，它的更新頻率如何，以及其中也涉及政治因素。如果我可以這麼說，如果工傷賠償在任何一個州的立法層面成為一個問題，他們就會介入並推動一些事情的發生。但就目前而言，我敲敲這張木桌，工傷賠償似乎不是任何人的首要議程，因為 PNC 領域還有很多其他事情正在發生，特別是與房主和汽車相關的事情，立法者更傾向於為這些事情尋找解決方案，而工傷賠償一直處於相當穩定的狀態。所以我認為雇主們對目前發生的事情相對比較滿意。

Carriers are pretty much satisfied with the way things are happening, so. As of right now, it doesn't seem to be on the top, at least to my knowledge, on the top of any legislative agendas in a large way that would cause the fee schedules to change.

營運商對目前的情況相當滿意。就目前而言，至少據我所知，它似乎還沒有成為任何立法議程上的首要議題，以至於改變收費標準。

Yeah, no, it can make sense. Don't fix what's not broken at this point.

是的，沒錯，這說得通。現在沒壞的東西就別修。

Okay, that's it for me. Thanks for the color.

好了，我今天就到這裡。謝謝你提供的色彩。

Thank you, Rob.

謝謝你，羅布。

And there appears to be no further questions in the queue at this time. I'd now like to turn the conference back over to Janelle Frost, CEO, for any additional or closing remarks.

目前看來，隊列中似乎沒有其他問題了。現在我謹將會議交還給執行長 Janelle Frost，請她作補充或總結發言。

Thank you. We are pleased with this quarter's results and the successes we're having in adding small incremental growth while maintaining the standards that make AmeriSafe a profitable underwriter of high hazard workers' compensation.

謝謝。我們對本季度的業績以及在保持使 AmeriSafe 成為高風險工傷賠償盈利承保商的標準的同時，實現小幅增長所取得的成功感到滿意。

Thank you for joining us today.

感謝您今天蒞臨。

And this concludes today's call.

今天的電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。