CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Atlas Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFH) ("Atlas" or the "Company") today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program of up to 650,000 shares of common stock. Over the next 12 months, the repurchases may be made from time to time in open market transactions, privately-negotiated transactions, block purchases, or otherwise in accordance with Federal securities laws at the discretion of the Company’s management. The Company’s decisions around the timing, volume, and nature of share repurchases, and the ultimate amount of shares repurchased, will be dependent on market conditions, applicable securities laws, and other factors. The share repurchase program and the Board's authorization of the program may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time.
The repurchase program will be funded using the Company’s working capital and is subject to the terms and conditions of its existing debt facilities. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had 12,023,295 shares outstanding of its common stock.
Management Comments
Scott D. Wollney, Atlas’ President and CEO, stated, “We remain focused on maximizing return on equity across multiple cycles. As we indicated on our recent earnings call, we see favorable conditions in our niche market and anticipate continuing profitable growth. However, being a good steward of capital is a primary tenant of our business model, and utilizing our available capital in a manner that will maximize overall returns is an important responsibility in that regard. Our Board decided to implement a plan to repurchase shares on an opportunistic basis. This share repurchase plan reflects our view of the extraordinary value of our business, our long-term confidence in Atlas’ future potential and our recognition of the responsibility to manage our capital structure to achieve our objectives. The tools we’ve put in place to support continuing growth will facilitate our ability to make share purchases as we continue to benefit from the favorable trends we anticipate in our specialized target market.”
About Atlas
The primary business of Atlas is commercial automobile insurance in the United States, with a niche market orientation and focus on insurance for the "light" commercial automobile sector including taxi cabs, non-emergency paratransit, limousine/livery (including certain transportation network company drivers) and business auto. The business of Atlas is carried on through its subsidiaries American Country Insurance Company, American Service Insurance Company, Inc., Gateway Insurance Company, Global Liberty Insurance Company of New York, Anchor Group Management, Inc., Plainview Premium Finance Company, Inc., and Plainview Premium Finance Company of California, Inc. Atlas' insurance subsidiaries have decades of experience with a commitment to always being an industry leader in these specialized areas of insurance.
For more information about Atlas, please visit www.atlas-fin.com.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Atlas and its insurance subsidiaries and businesses. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the management of each entity. The words "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "may", "should", "estimate", "project", "outlook", "forecast" or similar words are used to identify such forward looking information. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Companies, including risks regarding the insurance industry, economic factors and the equity markets generally and the risk factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company's 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Atlas and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
