NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Acceptance Corporation (NYSE:FAC) today reported its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015.
Operating Results
Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2015 increased 30% to $88.5 million from $67.9 million in the same period in the prior year. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015 increased 26% to $331.9 million from $263.2 million in the same period in the prior year.
Income before income taxes for the three months ended December 31, 2015 was $0.5 million, compared with income before income taxes of $3.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014. Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2015 was $0.3 million, compared with net income of $22.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014.
Loss before income taxes for year ended December 31, 2015 was $2.6 million, compared with income before income taxes of $9.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2015 was $1.9 million, compared with net income of $28.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2014.
The results for both the three months and year ended December 31, 2014 included a decrease in the deferred tax asset valuation allowance of $22.4 million.
Excluding litigation settlement costs of $3.7 million and Titan acquisition and integration costs of $1.6 million, for the year ended December 31, 2015, income before income taxes was $2.7 million.
Joe Borbely, President and CEO, commented, “Our quarterly revenue growth of 30% over last year and emphasis on cost containment produced record low expense ratios for both the quarter (14.9%) and year (17.8%). These efforts contributed to both a profitable quarter and year (after excluding non-recurring items) despite only slight improvement in the recent elevated claims frequency. The newly-acquired Titan retail stores were rebranded to “Acceptance” during the quarter, and we look forward to maximizing their potential by introducing Acceptance products in 2016. We also remain optimistic that our recent pricing and underwriting actions will positively impact our loss ratio in the coming year.”
Premiums, Commissions and Fee Income. Premiums earned increased by $13.3 million, or 24%, to $69.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2015, from $56.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2015 premiums earned increased by $48.7 million, or 22%, to $267.0 million from $218.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. These improvements were primarily due to higher average premiums and an increase in the number of policies in force.
Commission and fee income increased by $7.2 million, or 69%, to $17.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2015, from $10.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014. Commission and fee income increased by $20.2 million, or 51%, to $59.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, from $39.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. For the three months and year ended December 31, 2015, revenue from the Titan retail locations acquired on July 1, 2015 accounted for $5.6 million and $12.6 million, respectively, of this increase. The remaining increase in commission and fee income was a result of higher fee income related to commissionable ancillary products sold through our previously-existing retail locations and the increase in the number of policies in force.
Loss Ratio. The loss ratio was 84.4% for the three months ended December 31, 2015, compared with 74.5% for the three months ended December 31, 2014. The loss ratio was 82.0% for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared with 73.9% for the year ended December 31, 2014. We experienced favorable development related to prior periods of $0.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2015, compared with $2.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we experienced unfavorable development related to prior periods of $0.8 million, compared with favorable development of $4.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The unfavorable loss development for the year ended December 31, 2015 was largely the result of an increase in bodily injury loss adjustment expenses (primarily outside legal costs) driven by the overall increase in claim frequency.
Excluding the development related to prior periods for the three months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, the loss ratios were 88.5% and 79.2%, respectively. Excluding the development related to prior fiscal years, the loss ratios for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 were 81.7% and 76.1%, respectively. These year-over-year increases in the loss ratio were primarily due to higher than expected claim frequency and severity across multiple coverages principally in property damage liability and collision claims. We believe that an increase in the number of miles driven by insured drivers as a result of lower gas prices and a favorable economy has been a contributing factor to an industry-wide increase in frequency. In response, the Company has continued to implement aggressive rate and underwriting actions as warranted at a state and coverage level.
Expense Ratio. The expense ratio was 14.9% for the three months ended December 31, 2015, compared with 20.8% for the three months ended December 31, 2014. The expense ratio was 17.8% for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared with 22.7% for the year ended December 31, 2014. The year-over-year decrease in the expense ratio was primarily due to the increase in premiums earned which resulted in a lower percentage of fixed expenses in our retail operations (such as rent and base salary) and the Company’s efforts on cost containment.
Combined Ratio. The combined ratio increased to 99.3% for the three months ended December 31, 2015 from 95.3% for the three months ended December 31, 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2015, the combined ratio increased to 99.8% from 96.6% for the year ended December 31, 2014.
Titan Acquisition
Effective July 1, 2015, we acquired 83 Titan Insurance retail locations, principally in California (48), but also in Texas (12), Arizona (10), Florida (4), Nevada (4) and New Mexico (5), which were previously owned and operated by Nationwide. These agencies, which are now rebranded under our Acceptance Insurance name, sell private passenger non-standard automobile insurance through both Nationwide and other unrelated insurance companies for which our revenues are in the form of commission and fee income.
Going forward, we plan to develop our own products for California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, and introduce our current Texas and Florida products into stores in those states. We have applied for an insurance company license in California and are already licensed in the three other states where we do not currently write business. These new products are not expected to be available until sometime in 2016, and California is subject to the approval of our insurance company license application by the California Department of Insurance.
Revenues and income before income taxes of the acquired retail locations included in our results for the year ended December 31, 2015 were $12.6 million and $0.2 million (excluding acquisition and integration-related costs), respectively.
Next Release of Financial Results
We currently plan to report our financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2016 on May 10, 2016.
About First Acceptance Corporation
We are principally a retailer, servicer and underwriter of non-standard personal automobile insurance based in Nashville, Tennessee. Our insurance operations generate revenues from selling non-standard personal automobile insurance policies and related products in 17 states. We conduct our servicing and underwriting operations in 13 states and are licensed as an insurer in 12 additional states. Non-standard personal automobile insurance is made available to individuals because of their inability or unwillingness to obtain standard insurance coverage due to various factors, including payment history, payment preference, failure in the past to maintain continuous insurance coverage or driving record and/or vehicle type.
At December 31, 2015, we leased and operated 440 retail locations and a call center staffed with employee-agents. Our employee-agents primarily sell non-standard personal automobile insurance products underwritten by us, as well as certain commissionable ancillary products. In most states, our employee-agents also sell a complementary insurance product providing personal property and liability coverage for renters underwritten by us. In addition, retail locations in some markets offer non-standard personal automobile insurance serviced and underwritten by other third-party insurance carriers for which we receive a commission. In addition to our retail locations, we are able to complete the entire sales process over the phone via our call center or through the internet via our consumer-based website or mobile platform. On a limited basis, we also sell our products through selected retail locations operated by independent agents. Additional information about First Acceptance Corporation can be found online at www.acceptance.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the expected effects of the recently completed acquisition. These statements, which have been included in reliance on the “safe harbor” provisions of the federal securities laws, involve risks and uncertainties. Investors are hereby cautioned that these statements may be affected by important factors, including, among others, the factors set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Item 1A. of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual operations and results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
FIRST ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Income
(in thousands, except per share data)
| Three Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||||||
| Premiums earned | $ | 69,564 | $ | 56,344 | $ | 266,987 | $ | 218,315 | ||||||||
| Commission and fee income | 17,640 | 10,410 | 59,892 | 39,733 | ||||||||||||
| Investment income | 1,329 | 1,187 | 5,024 | 5,123 | ||||||||||||
| Net realized gains (losses) on investments, available-for-sale | 2 | (13 | ) | (11 | ) | 23 | ||||||||||
| 88,535 | 67,928 | 331,892 | 263,194 | |||||||||||||
| Costs and expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
| Losses and loss adjustment expenses | 58,727 | 41,979 | 219,031 | 161,302 | ||||||||||||
| Insurance operating expenses | 27,215 | 21,589 | 105,254 | 87,328 | ||||||||||||
| Other operating expenses | 245 | 274 | 1,126 | 996 | ||||||||||||
| Litigation settlement | 32 | 81 | 3,677 | 187 | ||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 35 | 34 | 144 | 185 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 527 | 464 | 1,751 | 1,767 | ||||||||||||
| Amortization of identifiable intangibles assets | 253 | — | 514 | — | ||||||||||||
| Interest expense | 1,043 | 431 | 2,967 | 1,706 | ||||||||||||
| 88,077 | 64,852 | 334,464 | 253,471 | |||||||||||||
| Income (loss) before income taxes | 458 | 3,076 | (2,572 | ) | 9,723 | |||||||||||
| Provision (benefit) for income taxes | 171 | (18,892 | ) | (642 | ) | (18,345 | ) | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | 287 | $ | 21,968 | $ | (1,930 | ) | $ | 28,068 | |||||||
| Net income (loss) per share: | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.01 | $ | 0.54 | $ | (0.05 | ) | $ | 0.68 | |||||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.01 | $ | 0.53 | $ | (0.05 | ) | $ | 0.68 | |||||||
| Number of shares used to calculate net income (loss) per share: | ||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 41,041 | 40,997 | 41,030 | 40,985 | ||||||||||||
| Diluted | 41,375 | 41,294 | 41,030 | 41,283 | ||||||||||||
FIRST ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except per share data)
| December 31, | ||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | |||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Investments, available-for-sale at fair value (amortized cost of $128,304 and $119,119, respectively) | $ | 131,582 | $ | 125,085 | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | 115,587 | 102,429 | ||||||
| Premiums, fees, and commissions receivable, net of allowance of $454 and $392 | 69,881 | 56,486 | ||||||
| Deferred tax assets, net | 18,301 | 16,521 | ||||||
| Other investments | 11,256 | 10,530 | ||||||
| Other assets | 6,950 | 5,962 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 5,141 | 3,173 | ||||||
| Deferred acquisition costs | 5,509 | 3,459 | ||||||
| Goodwill | 29,429 | — | ||||||
| Identifiable intangible assets, net | 8,491 | 4,800 | ||||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | 402,127 | $ | 328,445 | ||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
| Loss and loss adjustment expense reserves | $ | 122,071 | $ | 96,613 | ||||
| Unearned premiums and fees | 83,426 | 67,942 | ||||||
| Debentures payable | 40,256 | 40,211 | ||||||
| Term loan from principal stockholder | 29,753 | — | ||||||
| Accrued expenses | 7,345 | 3,262 | ||||||
| Other liabilities | 15,606 | 13,453 | ||||||
| Total liabilities | 298,457 | 221,481 | ||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||
| Preferred stock, $.01 par value, 10,000 shares authorized | — | — | ||||||
| Common stock, $.01 par value, 75,000 shares authorized; 41,060 and 41,016 issued and outstanding, respectively | 411 | 410 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 457,476 | 457,242 | ||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax of $62 and $923, respectively | 3,491 | 5,090 | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (357,708 | ) | (355,778 | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 103,670 | 106,964 | ||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | 402,127 | $ | 328,445 | ||||
FIRST ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Supplemental Data
(Unaudited)
PREMIUMS EARNED BY STATE
| Three Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||
| Gross premiums earned: | ||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | $ | 13,668 | $ | 10,606 | $ | 51,287 | $ | 40,792 | ||||||||
| Florida | 10,463 | 8,537 | 41,102 | 33,519 | ||||||||||||
| Texas | 9,406 | 7,381 | 35,771 | 28,017 | ||||||||||||
| Ohio | 6,931 | 5,805 | 26,745 | 22,315 | ||||||||||||
| Alabama | 6,278 | 5,423 | 24,611 | 21,717 | ||||||||||||
| Illinois | 5,837 | 5,527 | 24,050 | 20,552 | ||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 5,563 | 4,123 | 20,254 | 16,407 | ||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 4,561 | 3,222 | 16,702 | 12,748 | ||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 2,301 | 2,161 | 9,224 | 8,426 | ||||||||||||
| Indiana | 2,085 | 1,619 | 7,954 | 6,155 | ||||||||||||
| Missouri | 1,529 | 1,265 | 5,844 | 4,902 | ||||||||||||
| Mississippi | 858 | 745 | 3,398 | 3,030 | ||||||||||||
| Virginia | 185 | — | 417 | — | ||||||||||||
| Total gross premiums earned | 69,665 | 56,414 | 267,359 | 218,580 | ||||||||||||
| Premiums ceded to reinsurer | (101 | ) | (70 | ) | (372 | ) | (265 | ) | ||||||||
| Total net premiums earned | $ | 69,564 | $ | 56,344 | $ | 266,987 | $ | 218,315 | ||||||||
COMBINED RATIOS (INSURANCE OPERATIONS)
| Three Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||
| Loss | 84.4 | % | 74.5 | % | 82.0 | % | 73.9 | % | ||||||||
| Expense | 14.9 | % | 20.8 | % | 17.8 | % | 22.7 | % | ||||||||
| Combined | 99.3 | % | 95.3 | % | 99.8 | % | 96.6 | % | ||||||||
NUMBER OF RETAIL LOCATIONS
Retail location counts are based upon the date that a location commenced or ceased writing business.
| Three Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||
| Retail locations – beginning of period | 438 | 353 | 356 | 360 | ||||||||||||
| Opened | 3 | 3 | 8 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Acquired | — | — | 83 | — | ||||||||||||
| Closed | (1 | ) | — | (7 | ) | (8 | ) | |||||||||
| Retail locations – end of period | 440 | 356 | 440 | 356 | ||||||||||||
FIRST ACCEPTANCE CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Supplemental Data (continued)
(Unaudited)
RETAIL LOCATIONS BY STATE
| December 31, | September 30, | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2015 | 2014 | ||||||||||||||||
| Alabama | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | |||||||||||||||
| Arizona | 10 | — | — | 10 | — | |||||||||||||||
| California | 48 | — | — | 48 | — | |||||||||||||||
| Florida | 39 | 31 | 30 | 39 | 31 | |||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | |||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 61 | 60 | 61 | 58 | 60 | |||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | |||||||||||||||
| Mississippi | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||||||||||
| Missouri | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 4 | — | — | 5 | — | |||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 5 | — | — | 4 | — | |||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | |||||||||||||||
| Pennsylvania | 14 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| South Carolina | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | |||||||||||||||
| Tennessee | 23 | 22 | 19 | 23 | 19 | |||||||||||||||
| Texas | 68 | 58 | 63 | 68 | 58 | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 440 | 356 | 360 | 438 | 353 | |||||||||||||||