Ohio-based State Auto Financial Corp. announced first quarter 2016 net income of $3.0 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, versus net income of $24.7 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2015.

Net income from operations per diluted share for the first quarter 2016 was $0.05 versus net income from operations per diluted share of $0.54 for the same 2015 period.

STFC’s GAAP combined ratio for the first quarter 2016 was 103.9 versus 94.6 for the first quarter of 2015.

Catastrophe losses during the first quarter 2016 accounted for 4.7 points of the 70.3 total loss ratio points, or $15.0 million, versus 1.4 points of the total 61.8 loss ratio points, or $4.5 million, for the same period in 2015, the company said.

Non-catastrophe losses during the first quarter 2016 included 3.2 points of adverse development relating to prior years, or $10.3 million, versus 1.4 points of favorable development, or $4.4 million, for the same period in 2015.

Net written premium for the first quarter of 2016 decreased 0.7 percent over the same period in 2015.

By insurance segment, net written premium decreased for personal and business 1.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, and specialty increased 11.0 percent.

Personal auto and homeowners new business premium and new policy counts were up, compared to first quarter of 2015 while total policies in force were lower.

During the second half of 2015, the company implemented underwriting actions, including pricing reviews and non-technology process improvements designed to improve personal lines production.

The decline in the business insurance segment reflects its decision to exit the large account business and changes caused by the field restructuring that was completed during the quarter.

The growth in the specialty insurance segment was driven by an increase in new business for both E&S casualty and programs.

“We are determined to see every line of business profitable and growing. That’s been our focus and we’re largely demonstrating success with one notable exception: auto, both personal and commercial,” said STFC President and CEO Mike LaRocco. “We’ve taken aggressive steps to restore our auto book to profitability, but those efforts will take time to show up in our results. We believe the increase in auto loss costs for the industry is being impacted both by an increase in miles driven and a continued increase in distracted driving. Evidence is mounting that distracted driving is increasingly the cause of accidents and contributing to the negative trend in traffic deaths. In the months ahead, we’ll be working aggressively to focus attention on this issue with our customers and agents, as well as the insurance industry.”

LaRocco noted that the company’s homeowners line is profitable.

He added that the E&S property line is “profitable, but growth is being challenged by a very soft and competitive market. The poor performance of our programs business was driven by commercial auto results, which included programs that have been terminated.”

Source: State Auto Financial Corp.