Zurich Insurance reports higher revenue, storm losses continue
(Reuters) – Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. posted a 2% rise in nine-month property/casualty premiums and confirmed its financial targets on Thursday despite a hit from larger-than-expected natural catastrophe losses.
“We are pleased with the development of our businesses over the first nine months of the year and are on track to achieve our 2017-2019 financial targets,” Chief Financial Officer George Quinn said in a statement.
“Life continues to perform very strongly … In property/casualty we continue to focus on profitability over volumes in what remains a challenging environment.”
Gross written premiums in property/casualty rose to $25.87 billion through September. On a like-for-like business, however, premiums were flat.
Insurers across the globe have been restructuring their businesses to cope with competitive and regulatory pressures, including pricing pressures, and last year's record losses from natural disasters.
Zurich said it increased rates in its property/casualty business by 3% overall in the first nine months. In its life insurance business, annual premium equivalents rose 3% to $3.57 billion.
Zurich, Europe’s fifth-largest insurer, said it has entered an agreement to sell Zurich Seguros SA in Venezuela, from which it expects to see a negative currency translation adjustment of around $258 million.
The group does not report nine-month profit figures, but said on Thursday weather and natural catastrophe losses had been slightly above expected levels. It expected losses of approximately $175 million from Hurricane Michael in the fourth quarter.
