Horace Mann reports strong fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN), the largest financial services company focused on helping America’s educators and a core small-cap value equity in the Financials sector, today reported financial results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2023:

• Diversified business delivered full-year net income of $45 million, or $1.09 per share, and core earnings* of $64 million, or $1.54 per share, with reported book value of $28.78 and adjusted book value* of $36.29 at year end; fourth-quarter net income was $0.95 per share, with core earnings of $0.84 per share

• Total revenue rose 8% for the year and 16% for the fourth quarter with net premiums and contract charges earned up 3% and record net premiums written and contract deposits* up 6% for the year and fourth quarter, total net investment income up 11% for the year and 17% for the fourth quarter

• Property & Casualty segment results improved over 2022 with fourth-quarter segment profit of $9 million; Supplemental & Group Benefits and Life & Retirement segments continued to deliver strong results

• Full-year 2024 EPS estimated at $3.00-$3.30 as Property & Casualty segment expected to return to full-year profitability; reflects higher year-over-year corporate interest expense following the 2023 senior debt offering

“We enter 2024 focused on helping all educators protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow while we also help school districts and other municipal employers attract and retain employees by providing more comprehensive benefits,” said Horace Mann President & CEO Marita Zuraitis. “We are diversifying to expand our reach in our core markets while managing our businesses to deliver consistent and reliable value to shareholders with a solid balance sheet and a compelling dividend.

“We remain highly confident in our ability to achieve the company’s long-term objectives of expanding our share of the education market and achieving a sustainable double-digit ROE in 2025.” Zuraitis added. “We are executing on our plan. In particular, 2023 results and our 2024 guidance clearly reflect the benefit of the property and casualty rate and non-rate underwriting actions we are taking. Our expectations for 2024 keep us on track to a core return on equity for the year near 9%.”

Details of the company’s guidance and outlook are included in the Q4 2023 investor presentation available on the Quarterly Results page of investors.horacemann.com.

Reporting Segment Results

Horace Mann reports financial results in three reporting segments: (1) Property & Casualty, (2) Life & Retirement, and (3) Supplemental & Group Benefits. The retail business, consisting of the Property & Casualty and Life & Retirement segments, provides insurance and financial services to individual educators through exclusive agents and direct capabilities. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment provides worksite direct and employer-sponsored benefits through employers. These worksite offerings help school districts attract and retain staff.

Horace Mann adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standard Update 2018-12 Financial Services - Insurance: Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts as of January 1, 2023, with a January 1, 2021 transition date. The company’s 2022 results have been recast to reflect the ASU and are reflected in this release on that basis.

Property & Casualty segment results reflect benefit of rate and non-rate actions

(All comparisons vs. same period in 2022, unless noted otherwise)

The Property & Casualty segment primarily markets private passenger auto insurance and residential home insurance. Horace Mann offers standard auto coverages, including liability, collision and comprehensive. Property coverage includes both homeowners and renters policies. For both auto and property coverage, Horace Mann offers educators a discounted rate and the Educator Advantage^® package of features. The Property & Casualty segment represented 46% of total revenues in 2023.

Including a profit of $8.8 million in the fourth quarter, the Property & Casualty segment’s net loss for the full year was in line with the company’s recent guidance, reflecting elevated catastrophe and non-catastrophe weather activity for much of the year. Property & Casualty net premiums written were up 10.8% for the year and 14.7% for the quarter. Segment net investment income was up 20.7% for the year and 32.9% for the quarter.

The year-over-year improvement in the fourth-quarter combined ratio demonstrated the benefit of the company’s rate and non-rate underwriting actions as well as catastrophe losses below our five-year average for the fourth quarter. Catastrophe losses for the quarter were $5.0 million, pretax, and catastrophe losses for the full-year were $97.6 million, pretax, In total, there were seven events designated as catastrophes by Property Claims Services (PCS) in this year’s fourth quarter versus 13 events in last year’s fourth quarter.

The year-over-year increase in average written premiums for auto policies improved again in the fourth quarter to 16.7%. The fourth-quarter auto underlying loss ratio improved 15.1 points year-over-year to 84.7%, but reflected typical seasonality in auto loss trends even as the benefit of rate and non-rate underwriting actions begins to be seen.

The year-over-year increase in average written premiums for property policies was 13.2% in the fourth quarter, as rate increases taken over the past two years and inflation adjustments to coverage values continue to take effect. The fourth-quarter property underlying loss ratio improved to 47.0%.

Life & Retirement segment full-year net income of $72 million

(All comparisons vs. same period in 2022, unless noted otherwise)

The Life & Retirement segment markets 403(b) tax-qualified fixed, fixed indexed and variable annuities; the Horace Mann Retirement Advantage^® open architecture platform for 403(b)(7) and other defined contribution plans; and other retirement products to educators as well as traditional term and whole life insurance products. Horace Mann is one of the largest participants in the K-12 educator portion of the 403(b) tax-qualified annuity market, measured by 403(b) net premiums written on a statutory accounting basis. The Life & Retirement segment represented 36% of total revenues in 2023.

Life & Retirement segment net income for the full year was ahead of recent guidance, as segment net investment income rose 13.6% in the fourth-quarter and 9.3% for the full-year, benefiting from higher returns on floating rate securities. The net interest spread on our fixed annuity business remained near our longer-term targeted range of 220 to 230 basis points. The spread was affected by lower limited partnership returns as well as higher FHLB borrowing costs as credit spreads tightened year over year. The net dollar contribution from our FHLB funding agreements remained stable compared with 2022, with FHLB borrowing costs reflected in interest credited.

For the Retirement business, net annuity contract deposits were up 6.2% for the year to $455.9 million. Educators continue to begin their relationship with Horace Mann through 403(b) retirement savings products, including the company’s attractive annuity products, which provide encouraging cross-sell opportunities.

Horace Mann currently has $5.2 billion in annuity assets under management, including $2.2 billion of fixed annuities, $2.6 billion of variable annuities and $0.4 billion of fixed indexed annuities. Assets under administration, which includes Horace Mann Retirement Advantage^® and other advisory and recordkeeping assets, continue to benefit from the strong equity markets.

Life annualized sales were $9.3 million for the year. Life insurance in force rose to $20.5 billion at year-end.

Supplemental & Group Benefits segment full-year net income of $55 million

(All comparisons vs. same period in 2022, unless noted otherwise)

The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment markets employer-sponsored group solutions for districts and other public employers, as well as worksite direct products typically distributed through the employer channel. The worksite business provides group term life, disability and specialty health insurance along with supplemental products including cancer, heart, hospital, supplemental disability and accident coverages. The Supplemental & Group Benefits segment represented 19% of total revenues in 2023.

Supplemental & Group Benefits segment full-year net income was $54.9 million, at the top end of recent guidance. The full-year benefit ratio for the worksite direct product line continued to move toward the longer-term target although utilization remains below historical levels. The full-year benefit ratio for the employer-sponsored product lines was in line with the prior year but also remains below the longer-term target.

The non-cash impact of amortization of intangible assets under purchase accounting reduced full-year 2023 core earnings by $14.6 million, pretax, vs. $15.7 million in 2022. Segment net investment income rose 31.6% in the fourth-quarter and 16.8% for the full-year.

Total segment sales for the year were $26.2 million, up 62.7% over the prior year, with worksite direct supplemental product sales of $15.1 million and employer-sponsored products of $11.1 million. Fourth-quarter sales reflected normal seasonality in this business area. Persistency remains relatively stable for the segment.

Consolidated Results

The Corporate & Other segment reduced total revenues by $20.6 million in 2023, largely due to realized investment losses related to proactive repositioning of the portfolio to enhance book yield. Interest expense was $8.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to $5.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Total net investment income rose 11% in 2023

(All comparisons vs. same period in 2022, unless noted otherwise)

Horace Mann’s investment strategy is primarily focused on generating income to support product liabilities, and balances principal protection and risk. Total net investment income includes net investment income on the investment portfolio managed by Horace Mann, as well as accreted investment income on the deposit asset on reinsurance related to the company’s reinsurance of policy liabilities related to legacy individual annuities written in 2002 or earlier.

For the full year, total net investment income rose 11.0% and net investment income on the managed portfolio increased 14.3%, ahead of recent guidance due to strong fourth-quarter results. The full-year increase reflected the benefit of the higher interest rate environment on floating rate investments. Investment yield on the portfolio excluding limited partnership interests was 4.74%, with new money yields continuing to exceed portfolio yields in the core fixed maturity securities portfolio.

The fixed maturity securities portfolio was in a net unrealized investment loss position of $417.6 million pretax at December 31, 2023, primarily due to higher interest rates. Net investment gains were $4.6 million after tax for the quarter.

Adjusted book value per share of $36.29 at year end

At December 31, 2023, shareholders’ equity was $1.18 billion, or $28.78 per share, as the net unrealized investment losses on fixed maturity securities continued to reflect the higher interest rate environment. Excluding the unrealized losses and effect of net reserve remeasurements attributable to discount rates*, shareholders’ equity was $1.48 billion, or $36.29 per share*. During 2023, Horace Mann repurchased 196,934 shares at an average price of $32.85. As of December 31, 2023, $34.9 million remained authorized for future repurchases under the share repurchase program.

At December 31, 2023, total debt was $546.0 million, reflecting $300.0 million of 7.25% senior notes issued in September 2023. The net proceeds from the sale of the 2028 Senior Notes were used to fully repay the $249.0 million balance on the company’s revolving credit facility. The ratio of debt-to-capital excluding net unrealized investment gains/losses and effect of net reserve remeasurements attributable to discount rates* was 26.9% at December 31, 2023, which aligns with levels appropriate for the company’s current financial strength ratings.

Quarterly webcast

Horace Mann’s senior management will discuss the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial results with investors on February 8, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be webcast live at investors.horacemann.com and available later in the day for replay.

About Horace Mann

Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE: HMN) is the largest financial services company focused on helping America’s educators and others who serve the community achieve lifelong financial success. The company offers individual and group insurance and financial solutions tailored to the needs of the educational community. Founded by Educators for Educators^® in 1945, Horace Mann is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. For more information, visit horacemann.com.

Safe Harbor Statement and Non-GAAP Measures

Certain statements included in this news release, including those regarding our earnings outlook, expected catastrophe losses, our investment strategies, our plans to implement additional rate actions, our plans relating to share repurchases and dividends, our efforts to enhance customer experience and expand our products and solutions to more educators, our strategies to create sustainable long-term growth and double-digit ROEs, our strategy to achieve a larger share of the education market, and other business strategies, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Horace Mann and its subsidiaries. Horace Mann cautions investors that such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond Horace Mann’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking statements included in this document. Certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates reflected in such forward-looking statements can be found in the “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information” sections included in Horace Mann’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The forward-looking statements herein are subject to the risk, among others, that we will be unable to execute our strategy because of market or competitive conditions or other factors. Horace Mann does not undertake to update any particular forward-looking statement included in this document if we later become aware that such statement is not likely to be achieved.

Information contained in this news release include measures which are based on methodologies other than accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP). Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP measures are contained in the Appendix to the Investor Supplement and additional descriptions of the non-GAAP measures are contained in the Glossary of Selected Terms included as an exhibit to Horace Mann’s SEC filings.