NMI Holdings, Inc. Reports Record Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Nov. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NMI Holdings, Inc. NMIH today reported GAAP net income of $49.8 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, and adjusted net income of $49.9 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, for its third quarter ended September 30, 2019.  This compares with GAAP net income of $39.1 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, and adjusted net income of $41.4 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, in the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.  In the third quarter of 2018, the company reported GAAP net income of $24.8 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, and adjusted net income of $31.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted share.  The non-GAAP financial measures adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share and adjusted return-on-equity are presented in this release to enhance the comparability of financial results between periods. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and our reconciliation of such measures to their most comparable GAAP measures, below.

Claudia Merkle, CEO of National MI, said, "National MI again delivered record performance, including new insurance written of $14.1 billion, net premiums earned of $92.4 million, adjusted net income of $49.9 million and adjusted return-on-equity of 23.7%.  We continued to grow our high-quality insured portfolio at an industry-leading rate and saw sustained momentum with our customer franchise.  We remain focused on achieving disciplined growth and positioning our business to deliver sustained performance across all market cycles."

• As of September 30, 2019, the company had primary insurance-in-force of $89.7 billion, up 10% from $81.7 billion at June 30, 2019 and up 41% compared to $63.5 billion as of September 30, 2018.
• Net premiums earned for the quarter were $92.4 million, up 11% compared to $83.2 million for the second quarter of 2019 and up 41% compared to $65.4 million for the third quarter of 2018.
• Total underwriting and operating expenses in the quarter were $33.2 million, including $1.7 million of fees and expenses related to the Insurance-Linked Notes (ILN) transaction completed on July 30, 2019.  This compares with total underwriting and operating expenses of $32.5 million in the second quarter of 2019, which included $0.7 million of fees and expenses related to the recently completed ILN transaction and $30.4 million in the third quarter of 2018, which included $1.9 million of fees and expenses related to an ILN transaction completed in July 2018.
• At quarter-end, cash and investments were $1.1 billion and shareholders' equity was $873 million, equal to $12.86 per share.
• Return-on-equity for the quarter was 23.6% and adjusted return-on-equity was 23.7%.
• At quarter-end, the company had total PMIERs available assets of $956 million, which compares with risk- based required assets under PMIERs of $638 million.

The non-GAAP measures of adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS and adjusted return-on-equity for the quarters presented exclude the after-tax impact of periodic capital markets transaction costs, changes in the fair value of our warrant liability and realized gains or losses from our investment portfolio.

⁽¹⁾ Percentages may not be replicated based on the rounded figures presented in the table.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

The company will hold a conference call, which will be webcast live today, November 6, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  The webcast will be available on the company's website, www.nationalmi.com, in the "Investor Relations" section.  The conference call can also be accessed by dialing (888) 734-0328 in the U.S., or (914) 495-8578 internationally, and using Conference ID: 3697868 or by referencing NMI Holdings, Inc.

About NMI Holdings, Inc.

NMI Holdings, Inc. NMIH, is the parent company of National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI), a U.S.-based, private mortgage insurance company enabling low down payment borrowers to realize home ownership while protecting lenders and investors against losses related to a borrower's default. To learn more, please visit www.nationalmi.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of the Company in connection therewith may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA).  The PSLRA provides a "safe harbor" for any forward-looking statements.  All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward-looking statements, including any statements about our expectations, outlook, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance.  These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "could," "may," "predict," "assume," "potential," "should," "will," "estimate," "plan," "project," "continuing," "ongoing," "expect," "intend" and similar words or phrases.  All forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve estimates, known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may turn out to be inaccurate and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them.  Many risks and uncertainties are inherent in our industry and markets.  Others are more specific to our business and operations.  Important factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in such statements include, but are not limited to: changes in the business practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the GSEs), including decisions that have the impact of decreasing or discontinuing the use of mortgage insurance as credit enhancement; our ability to remain an eligible mortgage insurer under the private mortgage insurer eligibility requirements (PMIERs) and other requirements imposed by the GSEs, which they may change at any time; retention of our existing certificates of authority in each state and the District of Columbia (D.C.) and our ability to remain a mortgage insurer in good standing in each state and D.C.; our future profitability, liquidity and capital resources; actions of existing competitors, including government mortgage insurers, such as the Federal Housing Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service and the Veterans Administration, and potential market entry by new competitors or consolidation of existing competitors; developments in the world's financial and capital markets and our access to such markets, including reinsurance; adoption of new or changes to existing laws and regulations that impact our business or financial condition directly or the mortgage insurance industry generally or their enforcement and implementation by regulators, including any action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address the planned expiration of the "QM Patch" under the Dodd-Frank Act Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule; legislative or regulatory changes to the GSEs' role in the secondary mortgage market or other changes that could affect the residential mortgage industry generally or mortgage insurance industry in particular; potential future lawsuits, investigations or inquiries or resolution of current lawsuits or inquiries; changes in general economic, market and political conditions and policies, interest rates, inflation and investment results or other conditions that affect the housing market or the markets for home mortgages or mortgage insurance; our ability to successfully execute and implement our capital plans, including our ability to access the capital, credit and reinsurance markets and to enter into, and receive approval of reinsurance arrangements on terms and conditions that are acceptable to us, the GSEs and our regulators; our ability to implement our business strategy, including our ability to write mortgage insurance on high quality low-down payment residential mortgage loans, implement successfully and on a timely basis, complex infrastructure, systems, procedures, and internal controls to support our business and regulatory and reporting requirements of the insurance industry; our ability to attract and retain a diverse customer base, including the largest mortgage originators; failure of risk management or pricing or investment strategies; emergence of unexpected claim and coverage issues, including claims exceeding our reserves or amounts we had expected to experience; the inability of our counter-parties, including third party reinsurers, to meet their obligations to us; failure to maintain, improve and continue to develop necessary information technology systems or the failure of technology providers to perform; and, our ability to recruit, train and retain key personnel.  These risks and uncertainties also include, but are not limited to, those set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" detailed in Item 1A of Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as subsequently updated through other reports we file with the SEC.  All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.  We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement, which speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect new information, future events or circumstances that occur after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We believe the use of the non-GAAP measures of adjusted income before tax, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) enhances the comparability of our fundamental financial performance between periods, and provides relevant information to investors. These non-GAAP financial measures align with the way the company's business performance is evaluated by management. These measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be viewed as alternatives to GAAP measures of performance.  These measures have been presented to increase transparency and enhance the comparability of our fundamental operating trends across periods. Other companies may calculate these measures differently; their measures may not be comparable to those we calculate and present.

Adjusted income before tax is defined as GAAP income before tax, excluding the pre-tax effects of the gain or loss related to the change in fair value of our warrant liability, periodic costs incurred in connection with capital markets transactions, net realized gains or losses from our investment portfolio, and discrete, non-recurring and non-operating items in the periods in which such items are incurred.

Adjusted net income is defined as GAAP net income, excluding the after-tax effects of the gain or loss related to the change in fair value of our warrant liability, periodic costs incurred in connection with capital markets transactions, net realized gains or losses from our investment portfolio, and discrete, non-recurring and non-operating items in the periods in which such items are incurred. Adjustments to components of pre-tax income are tax effected using the applicable federal statutory tax rate for the respective periods.

Adjusted diluted EPS is defined as adjusted net income divided by adjusted weighted average diluted shares outstanding. Adjusted weighted average diluted shares outstanding is defined as weighted average diluted shares outstanding, adjusted for changes in the dilutive effect of non-vested shares that would otherwise have occurred had GAAP net income been calculated in accordance with adjusted net income. There will be no adjustment to weighted average diluted shares outstanding in the years that non-vested shares are anti-dilutive under GAAP.

Adjusted return-on-equity is calculated by dividing adjusted net income on an annualized basis by the average shareholders' equity for the period.

Although adjusted income before tax, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS exclude certain items that have occurred in the past and are expected to occur in the future, the excluded items: (1) are not viewed as part of the operating performance of our primary activities; or (2) are impacted by market, economic or regulatory factors and are not necessarily indicative of operating trends, or both. These adjustments, and the reasons for their treatment, are described below.

(1) Change in fair value of warrant liability. Outstanding warrants at the end of each reporting period are revalued, and any change in fair value is reported in the statement of operations in the period in which the change occurred. The change in fair value of our warrant liability can vary significantly across periods and is influenced principally by equity market and general economic factors that do not impact or reflect our current period operating results. We believe trends in our operating performance can be more clearly identified by excluding fluctuations related to the change in fair value of our warrant liability.

(2) Capital markets transaction costs. Capital markets transaction costs result from activities that are undertaken to improve our debt profile or enhance our capital position through activities such as debt refinancing and capital markets reinsurance transactions that may vary in their size and timing due to factors such as market opportunities, tax and capital profile, and overall market cycles.

(3) Net realized investment gains and losses.  The recognition of the net realized investment gains or losses can vary significantly across periods as the timing is highly discretionary and is influenced by factors such as market opportunities, tax and capital profile, and overall market cycles that do not reflect our current period operating results.

(4) Infrequent or unusual non-operating items. Items that are the result of unforeseen or uncommon events, which occur separately from operating earnings and are not expected to recur in the future.  Identification and exclusion of these items provides clarity about the impact special or rare occurrences may have on our current financial performance. Past adjustments under this category include the effects of the release of the valuation allowance recorded against our net federal and certain state net deferred tax assets in 2016 and the re-measurement of our net deferred tax assets in connection with tax reform in 2017. We believe such items are non-recurring in nature, are not part of our primary operating activities and do not reflect our current period operating results.

Investor Contact
John M. Swenson
Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury
john.swenson@nationalmi.com
(510) 788-8417

Press Contact
Mary McGarity
Strategic Vantage Mortgage Public Relations
(203) 513-2721
MaryMcGarity@StrategicVantage.com

⁽¹⁾ Loss ratio is calculated by dividing the provision for insurance claims and claim expenses by net premiums earned.
⁽²⁾ Expense ratio is calculated by dividing other underwriting and operating expenses by net premiums earned.

⁽¹⁾ Deferred Ceding Commissions have been reclassified to "Other liabilities" in prior periods

⁽¹⁾ Other (expense) income includes the gain (loss) from change in fair value of warrant liability and interest expense.
⁽²⁾ Loss ratio is calculated by dividing the provision for insurance claims and claim expenses by net premiums earned.
⁽³⁾ Expense ratio is calculated by dividing other underwriting and operating expenses by net premiums earned.

New Insurance Written (NIW), Insurance in Force (IIF) and Premiums

The tables below present primary NIW and primary and pool IIF, as of the dates and for the periods indicated.

The following table presents the amounts related to the company's quota-share reinsurance transactions (the 2016 QSR Transaction and 2018 QSR Transaction, and collectively, the QSR Transactions), and Insurance-Linked Note transactions (the 2017 ILN Transaction, 2018 ILN Transaction and 2019 ILN Transaction, and collectively, the ILN Transactions) for the periods indicated.

Portfolio Statistics

The table below highlights trends in our primary portfolio as of the date and for the periods indicated.

⁽¹⁾ Reported as of the end of the period.
⁽²⁾ Calculated as end of period risk in force (RIF) divided by end of period IIF.
⁽³⁾ Calculated as net premiums earned, divided by average primary IIF for the period, annualized.
⁽⁴⁾ Defined as the percentage of IIF that remains on our books after a given 12-month period.
⁽⁵⁾ Defined as the percentage of IIF that is no longer on our books after a given three month period.

The tables below present our total primary NIW by FICO, loan-to-value (LTV) ratio, and purchase/refinance mix for the periods indicated.

The table below presents a summary of our primary IIF and RIF by book year as of September 30, 2019.

The tables below present our total primary IIF and RIF by FICO and LTV and total primary RIF by loan type as of the dates indicated.

The table below presents a summary of the change in total primary IIF during the periods indicated.

Geographic Dispersion

The following table shows the distribution by state of our primary RIF as of the periods indicated.

The table below presents selected primary portfolio statistics, by book year, as of September 30, 2019.

⁽¹⁾ Calculated as total claims incurred (paid and reserved) divided by cumulative premiums earned, net of reinsurance.
⁽²⁾ Calculated as the sum of number of claims paid ever to date and number of loans in default divided by policies ever in force.
⁽³⁾ Calculated as the number of loans in default divided by number of policies in force.

The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending reserve balances for primary insurance claims and claim expenses:

⁽¹⁾ Related to ceded losses recoverable under the QSR Transactions, included in "Other assets" on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.
⁽²⁾ Related to insured loans with their most recent defaults occurring in the current year. For example, if a loan had defaulted in a prior year and subsequently  cured and later re-defaulted in the current year, that default would be included in the current year. Amounts are presented net of reinsurance.
⁽³⁾ Related to insured loans with defaults occurring in prior years, which have been continuously in default before the start of the current year.  Amounts are presented net of reinsurance.
⁽⁴⁾ Represents the settlement of reinsurance recoverables in conjunction with the termination of one reinsurer under the 2016 QSR Transaction on a cut-off basis.

The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending count of loans in default for the periods indicated.

The following table provides details of our claims paid, before giving effect to claims ceded under the QSR Transactions, for the periods indicated.

⁽¹⁾ Count includes 8 and 14 claims settled without payment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and 1 and 5 claims settled without payment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively.
⁽²⁾ Severity represents the total amount of claims paid including claim expenses divided by the related RIF on the loan at the time the claim is perfected, and is calculated including claims settled without payment.

The following table shows our average reserve per default, before giving effect to reserves ceded under the QSR Transactions, as of the periods indicated.

⁽¹⁾ Defined as the gross reserve per insured loan in default.
⁽²⁾ Amount includes claims adjustment expenses.

The following table provides a comparison of the PMIERs financial requirements as reported by NMIC as of the dates indicated.