Zurich on track to beat profit targets for 2019; posts 'best H1 result in a decade'
Zurich Insurance Group posted the 'best first half result in a decade' driven by underlying growth across the business and a strong underwriting performance in property & casualty. The CEO is confident that it will beat its three-year financial targets in 2019.
In the first half of 2019, the insurer's net income rose 14 percent to $2.04 billion (after tax), compared with $1.8 billion in the same period a year ago.
Its property and casualty business saw an impressive operating profit increase of 46 percent ($1.65 billion in H1 2019, compared with $1.14 billion in H1 2018), and its P&C combined ratio of 95.1 percent fell to its lowest level in the past decade, due to an improvement in commercial insurance and a reduction in the underlying accident year loss ratio.
Gross written premiums at P&C grew 4 percent to $18.5 billion, while in life business GWP increased 13 percent to $18.1 billion ($16.96 billion in H1 2018).
Group chief executive officer Mario Greco said: “In 2016 we gave ourselves ambitious targets and we launched a bold new strategy. Today, we are proud to report that we are set to exceed all our targets and that the strategy is proving successful.
“Over the last three years, we have made substantial improvements in our business mix, reduced volatility and improved the profitability of our Property & Casualty portfolios while further growing our Life franchise through targeted acquisitions. We entered new and innovative markets, for example, through our acquisition of travel assistance provider Cover-More, and launched products aimed at millennials such as Klinc, an on-demand insurance proposition introduced in Spain, and Toggle, a rental insurance launched by Farmers Exchanges which is being rolled out in the US. We also succeeded in reducing our expenditures.
“Our management structure has been strengthened and reinforced by a diverse and highly qualified leadership team. Meanwhile, customer and employee satisfaction has improved. In the first half, a number of new distribution agreements have given more than 10 million additional customers worldwide access to our wide range of innovative products and services. Based on what we have achieved, we can look to the future with confidence and optimism as we prepare to present our plans for the next three years at our Investor Day in London in November.”
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