Operator
Good morning, my name is Carly and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Crawford & Company 2nd Quarter 2026 Earnings Release Conference Call. In conjunction with this call, a supplementary financial presentation is available on our website at www.crawco.com under the Investor Relations section. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer period. Instructions will follow at that time. Should anyone need assistance at any time during this conference, please press star then zero and an operator will assist you. As a reminder, ladies and gentlemen, This conference is being recorded today, Tuesday, August 4, 2026. Now I would like to introduce Tammy Stevenson, Crawford and Company's General Counsel.
Thank you, Carly. Some of the matters to be discussed in this conference call and in the supplementary financial presentation may include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may relate to, among other things, our expected future operating results and financial condition, our ability to grow our revenues and reduce our operating expenses, expectations regarding our anticipated contributions to our underfunded defined benefit pension plans, collectability of our billed and unbilled accounts receivable, financial results from our recently completed acquisitions, our continued compliance with the financial and other covenants contained in our financing agreements, our long-term capital resource and liquidity requirements, and our ability to pay dividends in the future. The company's actual results achieved in future quarters could differ materially from the results that may be implied by such forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release revisions to any forward-looking statements made in this conference call to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the day of the call or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. In addition, you are reminded that operating results for any historical period are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any future period. For a complete discussion regarding factors which could affect the company's financial performance, please refer to the company's Form 10-Q for the quarter end in June 30, 2026, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly the information under the headings Risk Factors and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as subsequent company filings with the SEC. This presentation also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules. As required, a reconciliation is provided for those measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. I would now like to introduce Mr. Bruce Swain, Chief Executive Officer of Crawford and Company. Bruce, you can begin the conference.
Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining me today are Holly Boudreau, our Chief Financial Officer, and Tammy Stevenson our general counsel after our prepared remarks we will open the call for your questions as you know profit is a global provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions bringing deep expertise across the full spectrum of claim services to major insurance carriers and self-insured organizations at the heart of what we do is a commitment to restore lives businesses and communities by delivering reliable and comprehensive claim solutions and outcomes. We have a long and successful track record operating across more than 70 countries backed by 10,000 professionals and managing over 20 billion dollars in claims each year. It's this global footprint paired with more than eight decades of technical expertise and a steadfast focus on service excellence and client success that enables us to serve the world's top insurers and corporations no matter the size or complexity of the program. Our blend of global presence, deep technical knowledge, and proven performance make Crawford & Company the partner clients turn to as they work through an ever-shifting risk environment, no matter where they operate or what market conditions they face. There are several favorable industry dynamics that combine with our core capabilities to form the foundation for organic growth strategy. First, as risk grows more complex, the major and complex loss market continues to expand, prompting clients to seek partners that combine a deep technical skill set with speed and efficiency in handling high severity claims. Second, the start of 2026 marked the unification of our US operating structure aimed at improving efficiency and supporting scalable growth going forward. We believe this strengthened client-centric operating model will allow us to be a more nimble and cohesive organization as we continue delivering value-added outcomes to our clients and partners. Third, the depth of our experience and our investment in technology continue to set us apart. By prioritizing our people and staying at the forefront of technological innovation, we're able to stand out across every market we operate in. Fourth, natural disasters continue to fuel steady demand for our services. While the timing and severity of weather events can't always be anticipated, the overall long-term trend suggests a more active and complex loss environment where Crawford is uniquely positioned to serve. Finally, as the claims environment becomes more difficult to navigate, more carriers and self-insured clients are turning to third-party administrators as strategic partners. Our worldwide TPA footprint offers the reach, scale, and expertise needed to successfully support clients as they navigate the evolving claims landscape. Let me take a moment to discuss our second quarter 2026 results. We delivered a solid second quarter driven primarily by weather related claims volume in international and growth in broadspire. In fact, this quarter had the best overall operating earnings since the 2023 third quarter. Second quarter revenues were $321.4 million which was down slightly year-over-year. Our consolidated operating earnings increased 34% over the prior year quarter related to strong performance in Broadspire and International, the latter of which was driven by heightened weather-related revenues in Australia and Asia. Our non-GAAP EPS was 38 cents for both CRDA and CRDB, up substantially from 22 cents for both share classes in the prior year quarter. Operating cash flow was $23.1 million year-to-date, improving over the 2025 period and providing us with continued financial resilience and flexibility. We added nearly $22 million in new and enhanced business during the second quarter. I'm encouraged by the number and size of opportunities we're seeing in the marketplace and the team is focused on closing the deals currently in play. Our leverage ratio was 1.45 times EBITDA at the low end of our targeted range and well below industry levels and our liquidity remains very strong. Our disciplined capital allocation approach reflects a commitment to steadily building long-term growth. We continue to strategically invest in the business while maintaining a strong balance sheet and continued liquidity strength. In addition to organic investments and opportunistic share repurchases, we actively evaluate inorganic growth opportunities such as selective acquisitions or acquihires that can sharpen our capabilities and expand our competitive positioning in the marketplace. We are committed to paying a quarterly dividend and given our consistent profitability and strong cash generation, the Board has approved an increase to the quarterly dividend to 8 cents per share. With that, I'll turn the call over to Holly for a deeper look at our second quarter financial and operational performance.
Thank you. In second quarter 2026, U.S. Property and Casualty, which consists of our U.S. loss adjusting and network businesses, contributed 23 percent of revenue. Broadspire, our U.S.-based third-party administration business, represented 34 percent of revenues, and international operations accounted for 43 percent of revenues. U.S. Property and Casualty revenues decreased 10.2 percent year-over-year related to softer performance in our network business. Operating earnings in the segment decreased by 300,000 or 4 percent year-over-year with operating margin up 70 basis points in part due to continued expense management efforts to mitigate the impact of lower revenues. Although we're continuing to see claims frequency tracking below historical levels, we remain a premier destination for seasoned, high-caliber insurance adjusters dedicated to service excellence, ready and able to serve a wide variety of major and complex claims with speed, efficiency, and expertise. Broadspire delivered quarterly revenues of $109.4 million, an increase of 1.2% from the prior year period, reflecting the addition of new disability clients as well as improved medical management revenues. Our retention rate during the quarter was 87.5% up sequentially from the first quarter. Operating earnings was $15.7 million in the quarter, increasing by $1.5 million, or 10.8% year-over-year, with operating margin increasing by 130 basis points. We continue to see tailwinds in the alternative market space related to growth in outsourced captives and MGA markets. international operations second quarter 2026 revenues increased 4.2 percent to 138 million compared to the prior year excluding the impact at the from the exit of Crawford legal services and foreign currency exchange rate movements revenues increased by 1.6 percent operating earnings increased by 3.5 million or 48.2 percent with operating margin increasing by 240 basis points. International second quarter operating performance was driven by heightened weather related claims revenue from Australia and Asia as well as improved performance in Canada as we continue to recognize efficiency from cost control initiatives. As we look at the ongoing impact of weather related claims on our business, this slide encapsulates the US severe storm activity, which declined 6.8% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the prior year period. Nonetheless, our weather-related revenues remained relatively stable, declining a modest 1.4% in the second quarter. Furthermore, our non-weather business was consistent year-over-year, evidence of the diversification of our business and the resilience of our core operations. In the 2026 second quarter, company-wide revenues before reimbursements were $321.4 million, a slight decrease compared to the prior year period. Foreign exchange rates increased revenues before reimbursements by $7.7 million, or 2.5%. GAAP net income attributable to shareholders totaled $13.4 million, compared to net income of $7.8 million in the same period of 2025. GAAP diluted EPS in the 2026 second quarter was $0.27 and $0.28 for CRDA and CRDB, respectively, an increase from earnings of $0.16 for both share classes in the prior year period. On a non-GAAP basis, diluted EPS was $0.38 for both CRDA and CRDB, increasing from $0.22 for both share classes in the 2025 quarter. The company's non-GAAP operating earnings totaled $29.4 million in the 2026 second quarter, or 9.2% of revenues, compared to $22 million, or 6.8% of revenues, in the prior year period. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $37.6 million in the 2026 second quarter, or 11.7% of revenues, increasing from $31.4 million, or 9.7% of revenues, in the 2025 quarter. The company's cash and cash equivalent as of June 30, 2026, totaled $69.4 million compared to $64.1 million at December 31, 2025. Total receivables were $259.8 million as of June 30, 2026, up $17.2 million from 2025 year end. The company's total debt outstanding as of June 30, 2026, totaled $198.1 million, up $9 million from December 31, 2025. Net debt was approximately $129 million as of June 30, 2026, while our U.S. pension liability was $16.3 million, reflecting a funded ratio of 94.4%. We made no discretionary contributions to our U.S.-defined benefit pension plan during the second quarter of 2026. Cash flows provided by operating activities for the first six months of 2026 was $23.1 million, increasing from $21.1 million in the prior year period. Free cash flow was $7.9 million in the 2026 period, improving from $2.6 million in the first six months of 2025. Unallocated corporate costs were $4.3 million in the 2026 second quarter, compared to costs of $7 million in the 2025 period. The variance was primarily driven by the absence of a one-time $3.1 million indirect tax expense that occurred in the second quarter of 2025 caused by a change in international tax law. Non-service pension costs were $1.5 million in the 2026 second quarter, a decrease from $2.4 million in the same period of 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, we recognized a $2.3 million impairment charge related to the curing value of two software assets. Additionally, as mentioned in our fourth quarter 2025 call, we finalized the sale of our Crawford Legal Service operations in the UK and Chile. Crawford recognized a net loss on the disposal of $1.3 million in the second quarter of 2026. During the second quarter of 2026, we paid a quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents a share. And as Bruce mentioned, the board has approved an increase to the quarterly dividend at 8 cents per share, which will be payable in August. The company repurchased approximately 295,000 shares of CRDA and 38,000 shares of CRDB during the second quarter of 2026. Approximately 1.3 million shares remain eligible to be repurchased under our existing share repurchase program as of June 30, 2026. And now I'll turn the call back over to Bruce.
Thanks, Holly. The second quarter of 2026 marked a nice rebound from the slow start to the year, as we achieved our highest quarterly operating earnings in nearly three years thanks to operational execution and weather-related activity internationally, the latter of which was episodic in nature. We're making solid progress on continuing to strengthen sales effectiveness, accelerate our U.S. integration, and improve operating discipline to move our company forward. As we look towards the remainder of the year, organic revenue growth and profitable market share gains remain our top priorities, and we remain focused on increasing client centricity and continued operational execution to drive long-term growth. We remain confident in the strength of our underlying operations and the depth and experience of our leadership team, and will continue working to deliver measurable long-term value to our clients, employees, and shareholders. Thank you for your time today and for your continued interest in Crawford. We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress through the remainder of 2026. Carly, please open the call for questions.
Operator
At this time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before asking your question. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question is from Mark Hughes with Truist.
Yeah, thank you. Good morning.
Bruce, you talked about, in the release at least, reduction in centralized indirect support expenses. Could you expand on that a little bit, and what will that mean on a go-forward basis for the margin?
Yeah, we have seen some reduction in our SG&A cost and in our administrative expenses this year. You know, always a focus of ours is on administrative cost efficiency, and we're certainly keyed in on that this year as well. You know, the primary vehicle that we're looking for for earnings improvement, though, is on profitable revenue growth. And as we can hold our administrative expenses in check and even reduce them a bit, then that's going to deliver the incremental margins that we need to get us to our target operating margins that we've talked about. yeah what is the uh on that uh topic any carryover in the international obviously some beneficial weather trends from a claim standpoint what's the duration how much visibility do you have in the 3q yeah so you know we've we've benefited a bit this year from carryover of events in australia and asia we saw some benefit of that in the in the second quarter those projects are winding down and i think that you'll see much less of an impact as we go through the third quarter and especially the the fourth um same sort of question on the expense front the uspnc margin was up year over year despite um a decline at the top line is that uh some of the SG&A you're talking about, or is there another dynamic at play there? A bit of that's SG&A. Some of it's a mix in business that we've got. We have reductions in some of our staff augmentation business that was in the catastrophe services business. That's been you know internalized by by the carriers that was lower margin work so uh you know that that mix shift has helped us to increase our our margins there's also a cost focus within the business not just within the uh the usb and c business but you see that in in broadspire and our international operations as well then uh in broadside you talked about the outsource uh mga benefits.
Could you talk about kind of the magnitude of that and what sort of end markets those MGAs, for instance, are operating in?
Yeah, so we see that as a tremendous market opportunity for us, and there's a lot of capital moving into the alternative space, whether that's MGAs or MGUs. There's also a lot of captive formation that's happening and and when that when that occurs those vehicles really aren't creating their own internal claims organization like a like a carrier would and so they look for partners and turnkey claim solutions and we're seeing a lot of opportunity there. Our pipeline has a number of material opportunities. Some of increases in new business that we put on in the second quarter was related to that to that space and uh you know we see that as a you know fertile ground for us in the future for uh for growth you know the kind of the end markets we see you know a lot of its casualty and complex casualty uh we also see some property out there but um overall it's uh it's an area that we we're investing resources in from a sales and marketing perspective to help unlock those opportunities for us.
And then the corporate expense of $4.3 million, it was obviously down year over year, I think some non-recurring expense in the year-ago quarter. Is $4.3 million kind of a good starting point run rate for corporate?
Yeah, that is a good starting point run rate for corporate because we had that one-time expense in prior year that's non-recurring.
Okay, very good. And then a final question, networks, business, you've had lower claims volume there. Is that the broader market, or are there any customer moves within networks, and what's the potential for a turnaround recovery in that operation?
It's a bit of a mix. So, you know, with property claim volumes in the U.S. down, you know, pretty significantly given the absence of major events, you know, kind of severe convective storm activity in the second quarter notwithstanding. But, you know, over the last couple of years, there's been an absence of major events, property losses are down, and that drives networks revenues. Within networks, in the catastrophe business, we had some large staff augmentation programs, if you go back, you know, several years. And as property losses have come down, those carriers have internalized that volume. I think if we see heightened events in the future, that that's going to help unlock the potential within that business. But it's largely property, and weather is going to drive property losses there.
Operator
Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star 1 on your telephone keypad. Your next question is from Kevin Steinke with Barrington Research.
Kevin Steinke Thank you. Good morning. Kevin Steinke I wanted to just follow up on Broadspire. Maybe can you talk about how new business is ramping there? I think you had mentioned on the last call, maybe a couple were ramping up a little more slowly than originally anticipated, but just maybe how contracts are ramping and what the new business pipeline looks like there.
Sure. Yeah. We're very pleased with Broadspire's performance in the second quarter. They had a nice quarter with revenues up and profits up, margins up. So we saw the benefit of that ramp and the new business that they've been putting on. They've got a very active pipeline. When we think about our pipeline and opportunities out there, they tend to be overweighted to broadspire in the TPA market. And as I was just talking about with with mark you know a material component of of our pipeline is in the alternative markets within within TPA and we are you know kind of excited at the prospects there to drive to drive future growth you know on the on the call that we had last quarter we were talking about you know costs that we had put in early in the year in order to to serve the the new business that was coming on And so, you know, those early hires and advanced hires that we made in anticipation of that business coming in and ramping, you know, was in place and helped us to support our clients and support the revenue growth in the quarter.
Great. Yeah, and the Broadspire operating margin really picked up nicely sequentially, so I guess we should just – should we just think about that as, you know, those hiring investments that you made are starting to be leveraged or kind of anything else that you'd point to?
Yeah, I mean, you know, we've kind of talked about low to mid-teens as the operating margin for that business. You know, we're always making advanced hires, right? So we've got new business that's going to be put on in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. will hire in advance of that because it's difficult just to to take and to fill an experienced workers compensation adjuster role or an experienced you know liability or casualty adjuster role so you need to bring them in in advance in order to get them get them ready so depending upon where we see the new business coming online, you could see some advanced hiring that we make in consideration of that. But when you look over the longer term trend for Broadspire, we're very bullish on the business.
Great. And the $22 million of new and enhanced business in the quarter, are there any particular areas where that new business came in? Is that mostly Broadspire or any else dispersed across the segments.
Yeah, it was, I mean, it wasn't all Broadspire. We saw some nice Broadspire programs come in. We saw some nice international programs come in and some other U.S. property and casualty business. So, it came from all of our segments.
Okay, good. You know, the international The international margin also picked up nicely, as you mentioned, that there was some help from weather-related revenue there. I think you also referenced some cost-cutting initiatives. So, do you feel like you have the cost base in place where you needed to be internationally? or, you know, just, again, I know you feel like international margin can continue to improve over time. There will be some variance from quarter to quarter, but maybe just where you feel like that business is in terms of its overall margin progression.
Yeah, sure. So we did get some benefit from carryover claims in Australia and Asia that helped us in the quarter. You know, their operating margin was almost 8%. So that's materially higher than where they've run the past couple of years. We do expect that activity to moderate as we go through the remainder of the year, and I think you'll see their margins come down from that level. I think there's still work to do on our cost structure and operating efficiency within the international business. I mean, it's a collection of 28 countries, So you don't have the same scale benefits that you do in the U.S., and it makes managing that segment a bit trickier. But I think there's some cost efficiencies that we can still recognize. Some of that's going to be driven by our ongoing technology investment that we're making that should make our operations more efficient across the globe. There's also pricing and ensuring that we maintain our pricing discipline in the market and don't fall behind there. And then, you know, profitable revenue growth, which is kind of the main driver of margin improvement that we see not only in international, but in all of our business units as well. So I would say it's a combination of those things. We expect international's margins, if you look at it on a year-over-year basis, to continue to improve towards, you know, a goal of being, you know, in the 10% neighborhood going forward. But that'll be a journey that takes a few years.
Right. Yeah, that makes sense. But on Global Technical Services, GTS, can you maybe talk about the hiring pipeline there and your continued pursuit of building out the team there over time?
Yeah, so Global Technical Services, whether it's in the U.S. or as the name implies, globally is a very important business for us. We see the expansion of GTS as one of our primary strategic growth drivers as we go forward. And, you know, as we look at growing that business through three primary ways. You know, one, we want to have organic revenue growth. So we do good business for our clients. We get new and enhanced business from them, and we grow through that means organically. We're also very active in recruiting talent into that business across the globe, and we've been successful in bringing in new talent. We call that acqui-hire, where we bring in, you know, kind of the best talent in the industry to come work under the Crawford umbrella. And people do that and teams do that because they see us as a company that is committed to the platform, that is investing actively in the platform and has, you know, long-term ambition for growth and being the market leader in that business. And that's our ultimate objective. We want to be the market leader globally in GTS. And then we'll also look at tuck-in acquisitions. There could be a lot of boutiques out there and small firms that if we can't arrange an acquihire type of an arrangement, we'll look at acquisitions as well. So those are really the three primary growth drivers that we see for GTS. And you'll see GTS not only in the U.S., obviously, but in international as well.
Yeah, that's helpful. Thank you. So, you know, you referenced the mixed claims environment and a lot of that driven by the lack of severe weather. But, you know, any updated thoughts on some of the insurance affordability pressures you've mentioned in the past? And, you know, is that – do you continue to see signs that that maybe is continuing to loosen up a bit? Or any other thoughts on the industry direction there?
I mean, everything that I'm saying is, you know, property market's pretty soft at this point. you know premiums are coming down and and some of the the terms of coverage are are loosening. You know you're starting to see a little bit of softness and casualty as as well in some of the liability books you know some some are still pretty firm you know things like you know commercial vehicles and commercial auto that that has a pretty heavy you know litigation risk in history with it, but, yeah, generally the market is much softer now than it was, you know, a year ago, for sure.
Okay, great. And then lastly, you exited, I think, the remainder of your legal services businesses internationally. I think in the past you talked about annual revenue of about $16 million from the businesses you had exited in legal services. Do you have an updated number there? I just want to make sure I've got that detail correct in terms of the revenue that you've exited in total from legal services on an annual basis.
The last year, that number was about $18.8 million of revenue. And like you said, we exited both the U.K. and Chile during the quarter and took a loss of $1.3 million on that. We do anticipate that when we fully shut down that UK entity because we sold the assets of it, that we would have an additional $1.3 million of expense when we close that entity. But it's $18.8 million of revenues in the prior year.
Okay, thanks. That's helpful. I appreciate you answering the questions. I'll turn it back over.
Operator
At this time, there are no further questions. I'll now turn the call back over to Mr. Swain for any closing remarks.
Okay. Thank you, Carly, and thank you to all of our employees, clients, and shareholders for your continued commitment to Crawford & Company. Hope you all have a great rest of the week.
Operator
Thank you for participating in today's Crawford & Company conference call. This call will be available for replay beginning at 11.30 a.m. Eastern Time today through 11.59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 11, 2026. The conference ID number for the replay is 312-8371. The number to dial for the replay is 1-800-770-2030. Thank you. You may now disconnect.
