EMC Insurance Group Inc. today announced improved guidance for its 2015 operating earnings, due to below-average catastrophe and storm losses and improved premium rate adequacy. The Des Moines-based property and casualty insurer said it expects to report operating income in the range of $2.21 to $2.26 per share for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, and that its generally accepted accounting principles combined ratio for the year will be approximately 96.3 percent. These results are significantly better than the company’s most recent guidance, which anticipated operating income in the range of $1.80 to $2.00 per share and a GAAP combined ratio of 97.6 percent. The lower the combined ratio, which is the sum of incurred losses and operating expenses measured as a percentage of earned premium, the greater the company’s profitability.