Independence Holding Company (IHC) has reported 70.71 percent plunge in profit for the quarter ended Sep. 30, 2016. The company has earned $4.32 million, or $0.25 a share in the quarter, compared with $14.76 million, or $0.85 a share for the same period last year.    

Revenue during the quarter plunged 43.81 percent to $78.54 million from $139.77 million in the previous year period. Net premium earned for the quarter dropped 43.43 percent or $51.70 million to $67.34 million.  

Benefits, losses and expenses for the quarter were at $71.54 million, or 106.24 percent of premium earned from $117.86 million or 99.01 percent of premium earned in the last year period. Operating income for the quarter was $7 million, compared with $21.91 million in the previous year period.

Net investment income was at $4 million for the quarter, up 2.14 percent or $0.08 million from year-ago period. Meanwhile, income from fees and commission for the quarter jumped 84.01 percent or $1.85 million to $4.05 million. The company has recorded a gain on investments of $0.89 million in the quarter compared with a gain of $8.82 million for the previous year period.    

Roy T. K. Thung, chief executive officer, commented, "Over the last several years, IHC’s insurance companies have transformed themselves by moving into lines of business that have higher margins, are less capital intensive and are less volatile. In addition, we are much stronger at the parent company level. We are in the extremely enviable position of having a large amount of cash and significant excess statutory surplus in our carriers, and we will be debt free by the end of the year. We are now a specialty benefits company with multiple group and individual specialty health lines and niche specialty group disability including New York statutory disability benefit policies DBL and group life lines. After we sold our stop-loss business, we made four relatively small investments to bolster the distribution of our specialty health products, including pet insurance, and to acquire worksite marketing expertise. We will continue to seek additional strategic investments, but we have not as yet made a final decision as how best to deploy the vast majority of our liquidity. Our overall investment portfolio continues to be very highly rated on average, AA and has a duration of approximately six years. Our book value increased to $25.72 per share at September 30, 2016 from $18.73 per share at December 31, 2015, and our total stockholders’ equity increased to $439 million at September 30, 2016 compared to $323 million at December 31, 2015. Both of these amounts are all-time highs."

Return on assets stood at 0.38 percent in the quarter, down 0.84 from 1.23 percent in the last year period. At the same time, return on equity was at 0.98 percent in the quarter, down 3.61 from 4.59 percent in the last year period.

Meanwhile, reinsurance recoverable moved down 0.62 percent or $2.97 million over the year to $478.84 million on Sep. 30, 2016.

Total debt was at $38.15 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, down 11.97 percent or $5.19 million from year-ago. Shareholders equity stood at $441.65 million as on Sep. 30, 2016, up 37.21 percent or $119.77 million from year-ago. As a result, debt to equity ratio went down 5 basis points to 0.09 percent in the quarter from 0.13 percent in the last year period.