Essent Group Ltd, the mortgage insurer and reinsurer based in Bermuda, has reported net income of $729.4 million for the 2024 fiscal year, up from prior year net income of $696.4 million.

Net investment income for the year was $222.1 million, up 19 per cent from 2023.

Fourth quarter net income was $167.9 million, which compares with $175.4 million in the prior year quarter.

The Essent board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.31 per common share, payable on March 24 to shareholders of record on March 14.

During the fourth quarter of 2024 and last month, Essent repurchased over two million common shares for approximately $118 million.

This month, the board approved a $500 million share repurchase authorisation that runs through year-end 2026.

“We are pleased with our fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results, which benefited from favourable credit performance given the resilience in consumers and housing,” said Mark A Casale, chairman and chief executive of Essent.

“We believe Essent is well positioned to continue producing strong returns and growing book value per share. The increased dividend and new share repurchase authorisation demonstrate our confidence in the stability of Essent’s cash flows and our commitment to a balanced approach to capital management moving forward.”

Essent said new insurance written for the fourth quarter was $12.2 billion, which compares with $12.5 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and $8.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Insurance in force at year-end was $243.6 billion, compared with $243 billion as of September 30, 2024 and $239.1 billion as of year-end 2023.

US mortgage insurance provision for losses and loss adjustment expenses was $37.2 million in the fourth quarter, which included $8 million associated with 2,119 of defaults that Essent identified as related to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

During the first quarter of 2025, Essent said it entered into two forward quota share transactions with highly rated third-party reinsurers.

These quota share agreements cover 25 per cent of the risk of all eligible policies written by Essent Guaranty Inc in calendar years 2025 and 2026.