Kingstone Swings to Loss as Winter Storms Hit Combined Ratio
Kingstone Companies posted a first-quarter net loss of $5.8 million after eleven winter catastrophe events pushed its net combined ratio to 112.0%, even as the insurer held its full-year guidance unchanged.
Kingstone Companies (KINS), the Kingston, N.Y.-based property and casualty insurer, reported a first-quarter net loss of $5.8 million, or $0.40 a diluted share, reversing net income of $3.9 million, or $0.27 a share, in the year-earlier period. The swing marked a 249.6% decline in net income and came alongside a drop in annualized return on equity to -19.6% from 20.8% a year earlier.
The loss traced to an unusually severe winter for the insurer's core Northeast market. Eleven winter catastrophe events pushed the GAAP net combined ratio to 112.0%, up 18.3 points from 93.7% in the first quarter of 2025, as the catastrophe loss ratio jumped to 26.0% from 1.7%. Kingstone attributed the losses to the coldest and snowiest storm season in 11 years for downstate New York.
Underlying business performance moved in the opposite direction. Net premiums earned rose 28.4% to $55.9 million from $43.5 million, while direct premiums written grew about 20% to $69.6 million from $58.2 million. Policies in force climbed 7.2% to 82,406 as of March 31, 2026, from 76,905 a year earlier. Stripping out catastrophe losses, the underlying combined ratio improved 5.1 points to 88.3% from 93.4%, which Kingstone credited to lower non-catastrophe loss frequency, higher average premium and expense discipline.
Adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of $4.9 million from a gain of $4.3 million a year earlier, a 216.2% decline, while operating diluted loss per share came to $0.35 versus operating income of $0.17 a share in the prior-year quarter. The comparison was also affected by the absence of a $2.0 million gain on sale of real estate that had boosted results in the first quarter of 2025. Net investment income partly offset the pressure, rising 62.9% to $3.3 million from $2.0 million. Book value per diluted share rose 38.2% to $7.70 from $5.57 despite the quarterly loss.
Kingstone reaffirmed the full-year 2026 guidance it issued March 5, 2026, calling for direct premiums written growth of 16% to 20%, a net combined ratio of 81% to 86%, diluted earnings of $2.20 to $2.90 a share, and return on equity of 24% to 30%. The unchanged targets suggest management viewed the winter storm losses as a discrete quarterly event rather than a shift in the underlying trend captured in the improved 88.3% underlying combined ratio.
The first-quarter release also disclosed plans to expand outside Kingstone's core Northeast footprint. The company said it intends to enter California in the second quarter of 2026 and has formed Kingstone America Insurance Company to support expansion into Connecticut, on both an admitted and non-admitted basis, starting in the third quarter. Boilerplate language in the July 16 filing reflected the shift, describing "principal operating subsidiaries" in the plural for the first time and stating that Kingstone now writes homeowners coverage in California on a non-admitted basis, alongside its long-standing licenses in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine.
The July 16 filing itself was a scheduling announcement confirming that second-quarter 2026 results will be released Aug. 6, 2026, and contained no new financial figures; the first-quarter results remain Kingstone's most recent disclosed operating performance.