MGIC Investment Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

MILWAUKEE, Oct. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE: MTG) today reported operating and financial results for the third quarter of 2019. Net income for the quarter was $176.9 million, or $0.49 per diluted share, compared with net income of $181.9 million, or $0.49 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2018.

Adjusted net operating income for the third quarter of 2019 was $173.6 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared with $180.9 million, or $0.48 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2018. We present the non-GAAP financial measure "Adjusted net operating income" to increase the comparability between periods of our financial results. See "Use of Non-GAAP financial measures" below.

Timothy Mattke, CEO of MTG and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation ("MGIC") said, "During the quarter we continued to execute on our business strategies, including prudently growing our insurance in force and managing and deploying capital to maximize shareholder value. Year over year insurance in force increased by 6%, and in the third quarter we added $19.1 billion of new insurance written that we expect to produce meaningful returns for our shareholders. In addition, the current economic conditions and the credit characteristics of the new insurance written over the last several years, continue to result in low levels of new delinquency notices." Mattke added that, "Reflecting our strong capital position and outlook for capital generation, in the third quarter MGIC paid the holding company a $70 million dividend, we repurchased approximately $70 million of common stock and, we distributed $21 million to shareholders with the common share dividend."

Third Quarter Summary

• New Insurance Written of $19.1 billion, compared to $14.5 billion in the third quarter of 2018.
• Insurance in force of $218.1 billion at September 30, 2019 increased by 2.0% during the quarter and 6.0% compared to September 30, 2018.
• Primary delinquency inventory of 29,940 loans at September 30, 2019 decreased from 32,898 loans at December 31, 2018. Our primary delinquency inventory declined 10.4% year-over-year from 33,398 loans at September 30, 2018.
• Insurance written in 2008 and before accounted for approximately 13% of the September 30, 2019 primary risk in force but accounted for 61% of the new primary delinquency notices received in the quarter.
• The percentage of primary loans that were delinquent at September 30, 2019 was 2.78%, compared to 3.11% at December 31, 2018, and 3.19% at September 30, 2018. The percentage of flow primary loans that were delinquent at September 30, 2019 was 2.20%, compared to 2.47% at December 31, 2018, and 2.52% at September 30, 2018.
• Persistency, or the percentage of insurance remaining in force from one year prior, was 78.6% at September 30, 2019, compared with 81.7%% at December 31, 2018 and 81.0%% at September 30, 2018.
• The loss ratio for the third quarter of 2019 was 12.7%, compared to 8.8% for the second quarter of 2019 and (0.6)% for the third quarter of 2018.
• The underwriting expense ratio associated with our insurance operations for the third quarter of 2019 was 17.7%, compared to 17.6% for the second quarter of 2019 and 17.6% for the third quarter of 2018.
• Net premium yield was 49.6 basis points in the third quarter of 2019, compared to 46.5 basis points for the second quarter of 2019 and 49.3 basis points for the third quarter of 2018.
• MGIC paid a dividend of $70 million to our holding company during the third quarter of 2019.
• MGIC Investment Corporation paid a $0.06 dividend per common share to shareholders during the third quarter of 2019.
• Repurchased 5.5 million shares of common stock at an average cost per share of $12.64.
• Book value per common share outstanding increased by 5% during the quarter to $11.93. A $31.4 million after-tax change in net unrealized gains (losses) increased book value per common share outstanding by $0.09 during the quarter.

Revenues

Total revenues for the third quarter of 2019 were $318.4 million, compared to $290.4 million in the third quarter last year. Net premiums written for the quarter were $259.4 million, compared to $251.9 million for the same period last year. Net premiums earned for the quarter were $267.9 million, compared to $250.4 million for the same period last year. The increase was due to higher average insurance in force and an increase in premiums from single premium policy cancellations, partially offset by the effect of lower premium rates. Investment income for the third quarter increased to $42.7 million, from $36.4 million for the same period last year, resulting from an increase in the consolidated investment portfolio as well as higher yields.

Losses and expenses

Losses incurred 

Losses incurred in the third quarter of 2019 were $34.0 million, compared to $(1.5) million in the third quarter of 2018. During the third quarter of 2019 there was a $27 million reduction in losses incurred due to positive development on our primary loss reserves, before reinsurance, for previously received delinquency notices, compared to a reduction of $59 million in the third quarter of 2018. Losses incurred in the quarter associated with delinquency notices received in the quarter reflect a lower estimated claim rate when compared to the same period of last year.

Underwriting and other expenses

Net underwriting and other expenses were $48.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, compared to $46.8 million in the same period last year.

Provision for income taxes

The effective income tax rate was 20.7% in the third quarter of 2019, compared to 21.6% in the third quarter of 2018.

Capital

• As of September 30, 2019, total shareholders' equity was $4.2 billion and outstanding principal on borrowings was $837 million.
• MGIC's PMIERs Available Assets totaled $4.5 billion, or $1.2 billion above its Minimum Required Assets as of September 30, 2019.

Other Balance Sheet and Liquidity Metrics

• Total assets were $6.1 billion as of September 30, 2019, compared to $5.7 billion as of December 31, 2018, and $5.7 billion as of September 30, 2018.
• The fair value of our investment portfolio, cash and cash equivalents was $5.8 billion as of September 30, 2019, compared to $5.3 billion as of December 31, 2018, and $5.2 billion as of September 30, 2018.
• Investments, cash and cash equivalents at the holding company were $308 million as of September 30, 2019, compared to $248 million as of December 31, 2018, and $261 million as of September 30, 2018.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

MGIC Investment Corporation will hold a conference call today, October 22, 2019, at 10 a.m. ET to allow securities analysts and shareholders the opportunity to hear management discuss the company's quarterly results. The conference call number is 1-855-493-1443. The call is being webcast and can be accessed at the company's website at http://mtg.mgic.com/. A replay of the webcast will be available on the company's website through November 22, 2019 under "Newsroom."

About MGIC

MGIC (www.mgic.com), the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corporation, serves lenders throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and other locations helping families achieve homeownership sooner by making affordable low-down-payment mortgages a reality. At September 30, 2019, MGIC had $218.1 billion of primary insurance in force covering over one million mortgages.

This press release, which includes certain additional statistical and other information, including non-GAAP financial information, and a supplement that contains various portfolio statistics are both available on the Company's website at https://mtg.mgic.com/ under "Newsroom."

From time to time MGIC Investment Corporation releases important information via postings on its corporate website, and via postings on MGIC's website for information related to underwriting and pricing, and intends to continue to do so in the future. Such postings include corrections of previous disclosures, and may be made without any other disclosure. Investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information for MGIC Investment Corporation alerts can be found at https://mtg.mgic.com/shareholder-services/email-alerts. For information about our underwriting and rate changes, see https://www.mgic.com/underwriting.

Safe Harbor Statement

Forward Looking Statements and Risk Factors:

Our actual results could be affected by the risk factors below. These risk factors should be reviewed in connection with this press release and our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These risk factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by forward looking statements that we may make. Forward looking statements consist of statements which relate to matters other than historical fact, including matters that inherently refer to future events. Among others, statements that include words such as "believe," "anticipate," "will" or "expect," or words of similar import, are forward looking statements. We are not undertaking any obligation to update any forward looking statements or other statements we may make even though these statements may be affected by events or circumstances occurring after the forward looking statements or other statements were made. No investor should rely on the fact that such statements are current at any time other than the time at which this press release was delivered for dissemination to the public.

In addition, the current period financial results included in this press release may be affected by additional information that arises prior to the filing of our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.

While we communicate with security analysts from time to time, it is against our policy to disclose to them any material non-public information or other confidential information. Accordingly, investors should not assume that we agree with any statement or report issued by any analyst irrespective of the content of the statement or report, and such reports are not our responsibility.

Use of Non-GAAP financial measures

We believe that use of the Non-GAAP measures of adjusted pre-tax operating income (loss), adjusted net operating income (loss) and adjusted net operating income (loss) per diluted share facilitate the evaluation of the company's core financial performance thereby providing relevant information to investors. These measures are not recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and should not be viewed as alternatives to GAAP measures of performance.

Adjusted pre-tax operating income (loss) is defined as GAAP income (loss) before tax, excluding the effects of net realized investment gains (losses), gain (loss) on debt extinguishment, net impairment losses recognized in income (loss) and infrequent or unusual non-operating items where applicable.

Adjusted net operating income (loss) is defined as GAAP net income (loss) excluding the after-tax effects of net realized investment gains (losses), gain (loss) on debt extinguishment, net impairment losses recognized in income (loss), and infrequent or unusual non-operating items where applicable. The amounts of adjustments to components of pre-tax operating income (loss) are tax effected using a federal statutory tax rate of 21%.

Adjusted net operating income (loss) per diluted share is calculated in a manner consistent with the accounting standard regarding earnings per share by dividing (i) adjusted net operating income (loss) after making adjustments for interest expense on convertible debt, whenever the impact is dilutive, by (ii) diluted weighted average common shares outstanding, which reflects share dilution from unvested restricted stock units and from convertible debt when dilutive under the "if-converted" method.

Although adjusted pre-tax operating income (loss) and adjusted net operating income (loss) exclude certain items that have occurred in the past and are expected to occur in the future, the excluded items represent items that are: (1) not viewed as part of the operating performance of our primary activities; or (2) impacted by both discretionary and other economic or regulatory factors and are not necessarily indicative of operating trends, or both. These adjustments, along with the reasons for their treatment, are described below. Trends in the profitability of our fundamental operating activities can be more clearly identified without the fluctuations of these adjustments. Other companies may calculate these measures differently. Therefore, their measures may not be comparable to those used by us.

1. Net realized investment gains (losses). The recognition of net realized investment gains or losses can vary significantly across periods as the timing of individual securities sales is highly discretionary and is influenced by such factors as market opportunities, our tax and capital profile, and overall market cycles.
2. Gains and losses on debt extinguishment. Gains and losses on debt extinguishment result from discretionary activities that are undertaken to enhance our capital position, improve our debt profile, and/or reduce potential dilution from our outstanding convertible debt.
3. Net impairment losses recognized in earnings. The recognition of net impairment losses on investments can vary significantly in both size and timing, depending on market credit cycles, individual issuer performance, and general economic conditions.
4. Infrequent or unusual non-operating items. Our 2018 income tax expense includes amounts related to our IRS dispute and is related to past transactions which are non-recurring in nature and are not part of our primary operating activities.

 

 

 

NON-GAAP RECONCILIATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risk Factors

As used below, "we," "our" and "us" refer to MGIC Investment Corporation's consolidated operations or to MGIC Investment Corporation, as the context requires; and "MGIC" refers to Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation.

Our actual results could be affected by the risk factors below. These risk factors should be reviewed in connection with this press release and our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These risk factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by forward looking statements that we may make. Forward looking statements consist of statements which relate to matters other than historical fact, including matters that inherently refer to future events. Among others, statements that include words such as "believe," "anticipate," "will" or "expect," or words of similar import, are forward looking statements. We are not undertaking any obligation to update any forward looking statements or other statements we may make even though these statements may be affected by events or circumstances occurring after the forward looking statements or other statements were made. No investor should rely on these statements being current at any time other than the time at which this press release was delivered for dissemination to the public.

Competition or changes in our relationships with our customers could reduce our revenues, reduce our premium yields and / or increase our losses.

The private mortgage insurance industry is highly competitive and is expected to remain so. We believe that we currently compete with other private mortgage insurers based on premium rates, underwriting requirements, financial strength (including based on credit or financial strength ratings), customer relationships, name recognition, reputation, strength of management teams and field organizations, the ancillary products and services provided to lenders and the effective use of technology and innovation in the delivery and servicing of our mortgage insurance products.

Much of the competition in the industry in the last few years has centered on pricing practices which have included: (i) reductions in standard filed rates; (ii) use of customized rates (typically lower than standard rates) that are made available to lenders that meet certain criteria; and (iii) use of a spectrum of filed rates to allow for formulaic, risk-based pricing that may be quickly adjusted within certain parameters (referred to as "risk-based pricing systems").

In the first quarter of 2019, we introduced MiQ™, our risk-based pricing system that establishes our premium rates based on more risk attributes than were considered in 2018. The widespread use of risk-based pricing systems by the private mortgage insurance industry makes it more difficult to compare our rates to those offered by our competitors. We may not be aware of industry rate changes until we observe that our volume of new insurance written ("NIW") has changed. In addition, business under customized rate plans is awarded by certain customers for only a limited period of time.  As a result, our volume may fluctuate more than it had in the past.

We monitor various competitive and economic factors while seeking to balance both profitability and market share considerations in developing our pricing strategies. A reduction in our premium rates will reduce our premium yield (net premiums earned divided by the average insurance in force) over time as older insurance policies with higher premium rates run off and new insurance policies with lower premium rates are written. Our premium rates are subject to approval by state regulatory agencies, which can delay or limit our ability to change them, outside of the parameters already approved.

There can be no assurance that our premium rates adequately reflect the risk associated with the underlying mortgage insurance policies. For additional information, see our risk factors titled "The premiums we charge may not be adequate to compensate us for our liabilities for losses and as a result any inadequacy could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations" and "If our risk management programs are not effective in identifying, or adequate in controlling or mitigating, the risks we face, or if the models used in our businesses are inaccurate, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition."

Our relationships with our customers, which may affect the amount of our NIW, could be adversely affected by a variety of factors, including if our premium rates are higher than those of our competitors, our underwriting requirements are more restrictive than those of our competitors, or our customers are dissatisfied with our claims-paying practices (including insurance policy rescissions and claim curtailments). Regarding the concentration of our new business, our largest customer accounted for approximately 5% and 7% of our NIW, and our top ten customers accounted for approximately 24% and 26% of our NIW, in each of 2018 and the first nine months of 2019, respectively.

Certain of our competitors have access to capital at a lower cost than we do (including, through off-shore reinsurance vehicles, which are tax-advantaged). As a result, they may be able to achieve higher after-tax rates of return on their NIW compared to us, which could allow them to leverage reduced premium rates to gain market share, and they may be better positioned to compete outside of traditional mortgage insurance, including by participating in alternative forms of credit enhancement pursued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the "GSEs") discussed in our risk factor titled "The amount of insurance we write could be adversely affected if lenders and investors select alternatives to private mortgage insurance."

Substantially all of our insurance written since 2008 has been for loans purchased by the GSEs. The current private mortgage insurer eligibility requirements ("PMIERs") of the GSEs require a mortgage insurer to maintain a minimum amount of assets to support its insured risk, as discussed in our risk factor titled "We may not continue to meet the GSEs' private mortgage insurer eligibility requirements and our returns may decrease if we are required to maintain more capital in order to maintain our eligibility." The PMIERs do not require an insurer to maintain minimum financial strength ratings; however, our financial strength ratings can affect us in the following ways:

• A downgrade in our financial strength ratings could result in increased scrutiny of our financial condition by the GSEs and/or our customers, potentially resulting in a decrease in the amount of our new insurance written.
• Our ability to participate in the non-GSE mortgage market (the size of which has been limited since 2008, but may grow in the future), could depend on our ability to maintain and improve our investment grade ratings for our mortgage insurance subsidiaries. We could be competitively disadvantaged with some market participants because the financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries are lower than those of some competitors. MGIC's financial strength rating from A.M. Best is A- (with a stable outlook), from Moody's is Baa1 (with a stable outlook) and from Standard & Poor's is BBB+ (with a stable outlook).
• Financial strength ratings may also play a greater role if the GSEs no longer operate in their current capacities, for example, due to legislative or regulatory action. In addition, although the PMIERs do not require minimum financial strength ratings, the GSEs consider financial strength ratings to be important when using forms of credit enhancement other than traditional mortgage insurance, as discussed in our risk factor titled "The amount of insurance we write could be adversely affected if lenders and investors select alternatives to private mortgage insurance."

If we are unable to compete effectively in the current or any future markets as a result of the financial strength ratings assigned to our insurance subsidiaries, our future new insurance written could be negatively affected.

The amount of insurance we write could be adversely affected if lenders and investors select alternatives to private mortgage insurance.

Alternatives to private mortgage insurance include:

• lenders using FHA, VA and other government mortgage insurance programs,
• investors using risk mitigation and credit risk transfer techniques other than private mortgage insurance,
• lenders and other investors holding mortgages in portfolio and self-insuring, and
• lenders originating mortgages using piggyback structures to avoid private mortgage insurance, such as a first mortgage with an 80% loan-to-value ratio and a second mortgage with a 10%, 15% or 20% loan-to-value ratio (referred to as 80-10-10, 80-15-5 or 80-20 loans, respectively) rather than a first mortgage with a 90%, 95% or 100% loan-to-value ratio that has private mortgage insurance.

In 2018, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae initiated programs with loan level mortgage default coverage provided by various (re)insurers that are not mortgage insurers governed by PMIERs, and that are not selected by the lenders. These programs compete with traditional private mortgage insurance and, due to differences in policy terms, they may offer premium rates that are below prevalent single premium lender paid mortgage insurance ("LPMI") rates. We participate in these programs from time to time. See our risk factor titled "Changes in the business practices of the GSEs, federal legislation that changes their charters or a restructuring of the GSEs could reduce our revenues or increase our losses" for a discussion of various business practices of the GSEs that may be changed, including through expansion or modification of these programs.

The GSEs (and other investors) have also used other forms of credit enhancement that did not involve traditional private mortgage insurance, such as engaging in credit-linked note transactions executed in the capital markets, or using other forms of debt issuances or securitizations that transfer credit risk directly to other investors, including competitors and an affiliate of MGIC; using other risk mitigation techniques in conjunction with reduced levels of private mortgage insurance coverage; or accepting credit risk without credit enhancement.

The FHA's share of the low down payment residential mortgages that were subject to FHA, VA, USDA or primary private mortgage insurance was 29.0% in the first half of 2019, 30.5% in 2018 and 33.9% in 2017. In the past ten years, the FHA's share has been as low as 29.0% in 2019 and as high as 66.8% in 2009. Factors that influence the FHA's market share include relative rates and fees, underwriting guidelines and loan limits of the FHA, VA, private mortgage insurers and the GSEs; lenders' perceptions of legal risks under FHA versus GSE programs; flexibility for the FHA to establish new products as a result of federal legislation and programs; returns expected to be obtained by lenders for Ginnie Mae securitization of FHA-insured loans compared to those obtained from selling loans to the GSEs for securitization; and differences in policy terms, such as the ability of a borrower to cancel insurance coverage under certain circumstances. We cannot predict how the factors that affect the FHA's share of new insurance written will change in the future.

The VA's share of the low down payment residential mortgages that were subject to FHA, VA, USDA or primary private mortgage insurance was 22.6% in the first half of 2019, 22.9% in 2018 and 24.7% in 2017. In the past ten years, the VA's share has been as low as 14.3% in 2009 and as high as 27.2% in 2016. We believe that the VA's market share has generally been elevated in recent years because of an increase in the number of borrowers that are eligible for the VA's program, which offers 100% loan-to-value ratio ("LTV") loans and charges a one-time funding fee that can be included in the loan amount, and because eligible borrowers have opted to use the VA program when refinancing their mortgages.

Changes in the business practices of the GSEs, federal legislation that changes their charters or a restructuring of the GSEs could reduce our revenues or increase our losses.

The GSEs' charters generally require credit enhancement for a low down payment mortgage loan (a loan with an amount that exceeds 80% of a home's value) in order for such loan to be eligible for purchase by the GSEs. Lenders generally have used private mortgage insurance to satisfy this credit enhancement requirement. (For information about GSE programs initiated in 2018 that provide for loan level default coverage by various (re)insurers (which may include affiliates of private mortgage insurers), see our risk factor titled "The amount of insurance we write could be adversely affected if lenders and investors select alternatives to private mortgage insurance.") Because low down payment mortgages purchased by the GSEs have generally been insured with private mortgage insurance, the business practices of the GSEs greatly impact our business and include:

• the GSEs' private mortgage insurer eligibility requirements, the financial requirements of which are discussed in our risk factor titled "We may not continue to meet the GSEs' private mortgage insurer eligibility requirements and our returns may decrease if we are required to maintain more capital in order to maintain our eligibility,"
• the capital and collateral requirements for participants in the GSEs' alternative forms of credit enhancement discussed in our risk factor titled "The amount of insurance we write could be adversely affected if lenders and investors select alternatives to private mortgage insurance,"
• the level of private mortgage insurance coverage, subject to the limitations of the GSEs' charters, when private mortgage insurance is used as the required credit enhancement on low down payment mortgages,
• the amount of loan level price adjustments and guaranty fees (which result in higher costs to borrowers) that the GSEs assess on loans that require private mortgage insurance,
• whether the GSEs select or influence the mortgage lender's selection of the mortgage insurer providing coverage,
• the underwriting standards that determine which loans are eligible for purchase by the GSEs, which can affect the quality of the risk insured by the mortgage insurer and the availability of mortgage loans,
• the terms on which mortgage insurance coverage can be canceled before reaching the cancellation thresholds established by law,
• the programs established by the GSEs intended to avoid or mitigate loss on insured mortgages and the circumstances in which mortgage servicers must implement such programs,
• the terms that the GSEs require to be included in mortgage insurance policies for loans that they purchase, including limitations on the rescission rights of mortgage insurers,
• the extent to which the GSEs intervene in mortgage insurers' claims paying practices, rescission practices or rescission settlement practices with lenders, and
• the maximum loan limits of the GSEs compared to those of the FHA and other investors.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA") has been the conservator of the GSEs since 2008 and has the authority to control and direct their operations. The increased role that the federal government has assumed in the residential housing finance system through the GSE conservatorship may increase the likelihood that the business practices of the GSEs change, including through administrative action, in ways that have a material adverse effect on us and that the charters of the GSEs are changed by new federal legislation.

In September 2019, at the direction of President Trump, the U.S. Treasury Department ("Treasury") released the "Treasury Housing Reform Plan" (the "Plan"). The Plan recommends administrative and legislative reforms for the housing finance system, with such reforms intended to achieve the goals of ending the conservatorships of the GSEs; increasing competition and participation by the private sector in the mortgage market including by authorizing the FHFA to approve additional guarantors of conventional mortgages in the secondary market, simplifying the qualified mortgage ("QM") rule of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), transferring risk to the private sector, and eliminating the GSE Patch (discussed below); establishing regulation of the GSEs that safeguards their safety and soundness and minimizes the risks they pose to the financial stability of the United States; and providing that the Federal Government is properly compensated for any explicit or implicit support it provides to the GSEs or the secondary housing finance market. Also in September 2019, the Treasury and FHFA entered into a letter agreement that will allow the GSEs to remit less of their earnings to the government, which will help them rebuild their capital.

The impact of the Plan on private mortgage insurance is unclear. It does not refer to mortgage insurance explicitly; however, it refers to a requirement for credit enhancement on high LTV loans, which is a requirement of the current GSE charters. The Plan also indicates that the FHFA should continue to support efforts to expand credit risk transfer ("CRT") programs and should