The American Overseas Group, an insurance holding company incorporated in Bermuda, has reported net income of $9.4 million for 2024, an increase of $4 million from the previous year.

In a letter to shareholders, American Overseas president and chief executive Debra Roberts said the results were fuelled by the expansion of its Old American brand and its disciplined approach to underwriting.

“Through a combination of multiple new programmes and the further expansion of many of our longstanding managing general agent partners, our top-line direct written premium has achieved 26 per cent compounded annual growth since 2021, ending 2024 at $914 million,” Ms Roberts wrote.

She said Old American’s approach to accepting and managing underwriting risk was measured.

“We stand side by side with our MGA partners, and take an active role in guiding the profitability of our partner programmes,” Ms Robert said. “While not designed to be a core earnings generator in our model, the $51.8 million of retained earned premium produced $3.8 million of underwriting profit in 2024 compared to $0.2 million in 2023.”

Ms Roberts said a subsidiary, Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, is a top 14 personal automobile underwriter in the state of Texas, producing direct written premiums and policy fees of $724.5 million in 2024.

Last year, further expansion occurred with the addition of partnerships in key non-standard personal automobile markets such as Texas and Alabama. The fee income grew 33.5 per cent, ending at $22.1 million.

She said the firm remained well positioned with its existing licenses to create incremental earnings through future fee income growth.

“The personal auto industry experienced once-in-a-lifetime shocks from Covid-19-related economic shutdowns — first to revenue levels in 2020 as driving activity shrunk, and subsequently to claims loss costs in 2021 through 2023 as supply chains and labour shortages produced runaway inflation impacts on vehicle repair costs,” she said.

Ms Roberts said in 2024, the personal automobile industry showed strong signs of a return to target profitability, from an underwriting viewpoint.

“Our industry is not static, with a multitude of market players that offer various levels of underwriting discipline,” she said. “Our goal, as always, is to remain disciplined in our approach to underwriting risk, eschewing opportunism, and supporting our MGA and third-party reinsurance partners.”