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Text: We are off to a strong start to 2021, with solid first quarter results.
Including, close to 12% top line growth, margin expansion in excess of 200 basis points, and a total annualized return on average equity of 23.2%.
We continue to make progress on our reinsurance program renewal and were oversubscribed on our first cat bond in March at rates below the low end of our initial range.
We have now completed procurement of our Allstate's first event reinsurance program for UPCIC for the 2021 wind season, and we'll have additional details in May as we finalize the remaining pieces of our risk management strategies for our insurance company subsidiaries.
In addition, we were encouraged earlier this month when the Florida Senate passed Bill 76, which would enable Floridians to have reliable access to property insurance.
For a number of years, Florida has been a significant outlier compared to the rest of the country when it comes to litigated property claims, which has put significant pressure on the Florida property insurance marketplace.
We have not been immune to these market dynamics.
And during the first quarter, we actively reduced our policies in force sequentially and reduced new and renewal policy counts in aggregate this quarter when compared to the first quarter of 2020.
That being said, we continue to monitor closely the companion bill in the House, House Bill 305, which has differences from the Senate Bill 76.
We look forward to continue to make positive strides throughout 2021 and should have additional details on our reinsurance program renewals in the next several weeks.
As a reminder, discussions today on adjusted operating income and adjusted earnings per share are on a non-GAAP basis and exclude effects from unrealized and realized gains and losses on investments and extraordinary reinstatement premiums and related commissions.
Adjusted operating income also excludes interest expense.
We ended the first quarter with total revenue up 11.7% to $262.8 million, driven by primary rate increases from 2020, earning through the book as policies renew and an improvement in the unrealized portion of the investment portfolio, partially offset by the impact of higher reinsurance costs when compared to the first quarter of 2020.
Margins expanded by 210 basis points for the quarter, driven by the incremental fall-through profit from the top line as previously discussed, lower losses in LAE and lower operating expenses as a percentage of direct premiums earned.
EPS for the quarter was $0.84 on a GAAP and non-GAAP adjusted basis.
As to underwriting, direct premiums written were up 9.2% for the quarter, led by direct premium growth of 10.2% in Florida.
On the expense side, the combined ratio improved one point for the quarter to 93.1%.
The improvement was driven by a two-point improvement in the loss and LAE ratio from decreased weather, favorable prior year reserve development, and a benefit from our claims adjusting business, partially offset by increased reinsurance costs and less than one point of current year strengthening on a direct basis, when compared to the first quarter of 2020.
The expense ratio improved on a direct earned basis by 45 basis points as a result of operating efficiencies but was more than offset by the impact of increased reinsurance costs on the net ratio resulting in a one-point increase in the net expense ratio for the quarter.
On our investment portfolio, net investment income decreased by 56.3% to $3 million for the quarter, primarily due to significantly lower yields on the reinvested portfolio following the sale of a majority of securities in the portfolio that were in an unrealized gain position in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.
Unrealized equity losses improved substantially during the quarter when compared to the market volatility seen last March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total invested assets increased 10.6% to $1 billion since year-end 2020.
In regards to capital deployment, during the first quarter, the company repurchased approximately 15,000 shares at an aggregate cost of $245,000.
On April 22, 2021, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share of common stock, which is payable on May 21, 2021, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 14, 2021.
As mentioned in our release yesterday, we are maintaining our guidance for 2021.
We still expect GAAP and non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share range of between $2.75 and $3 and a return on average equity of between 17% and 19%.
The guidance assumes no extraordinary weather events in 2021 and also assumes a flat equity market for GAAP EPS.
If weather events exceed plan, we expect to see both a benefit from our claims adjusting business and increased loss costs.

user
universal insurance holdings q1 revenue $262.8 million.
q1 revenue $262.8 million.
q1 adjusted non-gaap earnings per share $0.84.
q1 gaap earnings per share $0.84.
maintaining its guidance for 2021.

assistant