Swiss Re posts $1.1bn 9M profit after $1.6bn claims loss

Swiss Re reported a net income of $1.1 billion for the first nine months of 2018 compared to a loss of $468 million for the same period a year ago, despite an estimated claims burden of $1.6 billion from natural catastrophes and large man-made events.

Claims were driven particularly by typhoons Jebi and Trami in Japan, hurricane Florence and the Carr wildfire in the US, and a windstorm in Canada.

“During the third quarter, we once again witnessed a series of natural catastrophes and large man-made disasters that devastated lives and disrupted businesses, particularly in Japan and in the US,” said CEO Christian Mumenthaler.

“The situation continued to be challenging in the US, with the landfall of hurricane Michael in October. In these tough times, we have the financial strength to support our clients, and ultimately their customers,” Mumenthaler added.

P&C Re net income for the nine months was $634 million after a net loss of $652 million in the same period of 2017. The combined ratio improved to 99.5 percent from 114.1 percent over the period.

Swiss Re’s chief financial officer, John Dacey, said: “Following fairly benign catastrophe experience in the first half of the year, the claims burden of the third quarter was large for an individual quarter. The cumulative losses for the first nine months, however, are broadly in line with our year-to-date expectations. Large losses keep reminding us of the importance of maintaining a robust capital position to respond proactively to adverse market events.“

While the group’s property and casualty businesses were particularly impacted by the natural catastrophe and large man-made losses in the third quarter, the Group’s life and health businesses continued to deliver a strong performance, the company noted in a statement.

L&H Re net income declined to $644 million for the nine months of 2018 from $741 million in the same period a year ago. This result was mainly driven by large transactions in Canada and New Zealand, solid performance in Asia and EMEA and solid investment results.

Overall, gross premiums written for the first nine months were up 6.5 percent year on year to $28.4 billion, primarily driven by premium growth across the group’s life and health businesses. Measured at constant foreign exchange rates, the increase would have been 4.4 percent.

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