French reinsurer CCR Re has reported a 2.1 percentage point improvement in its combined ratio for 2023 to 96.6%, despite the cost of natural catastrophes, net of retrocession, rising by €53 million year-on-year to €88 million.
Gross, natural catastrophe costs reached €117 million for CCR Re in 2023, a significant rise on 2022’s gross figure of €62 million.
But in spite of higher nat cat costs than in 2022, driven by the high frequency of large-scale secondary risks, and also the persistent cost of inflation which accounted for 380 bps of the combined ratio, the underwriting performance improved in 2023 with a combined ratio of below 97%.
CCR Re says that the inflationary environment has continued to weigh on the cost of claims and has been evaluated by the firm prudently.
At the same time, the reinsurer, which was taken over by a consortium comprised of SMABTP and MACSF in July of last year, notes that financial markets benefited from a buoyant environment, highlighting the fact recession has been avoided and margins have been upheld and the arrival of disinflation.
As a result of the operational separation from CCR, the reinsurer’s cost ratio rose from 4.1% in 2022 to 4.3% in 2023.
In terms of growth, CCR Re reports a continuation of its profitable growth trajectory with the unchanged objective of doubling sales and bolstering profitability by 300 bps by 2027.
All in all, total sales hit almost €1.2 billion in 2023, up 20% on the prior year’s €987 million at current exchange rates.
68.7% of the firm’s gross written premium (GWP) in 2023 relates to property and casualty (P&C) business, with property accounting for most of this at 36.5% of the total.
The remaining 31.3% of total GWP relates to its life and health (L&H) business, of which the life portfolio makes up the most at 21.5% of the total.
The life margin rate improved from 3.6% in 2022 to 3.9% in 2023, reflecting the improved profitability of the book.
The book yield on CCR Re assets was 2.4% in 2023 compared with a return on investment of 2.3% in 2022. This excludes the increase in unrealised capital gains which totalled €84 million on total assets of €3.6 billion at market value.
Overall, CCR Re has generated an EBITAER of €88 million and net income of €56 million for 2023, compared with €64 million and €42 million, respectively, in 2022.
The company’s solvency ratio also strengthened year-on-year, from 205% to 208% at year-end 2023.
“The 2023 CCR Re results are perfectly aligned with the business plan set up by the new Board of Directors. I would like to congratulate the CCR Re teams for yet another achievement as well as CCR Re’s clients and partners for their loyalty,” said Patrick Bernasconi, President of the Board.
Bertrand Labilloy, Chief Executive Officer, added: “In 2023, CCR Re went well past the one billion euros sales milestone. Continued profitable growth confirms the relevance of our strategy, supported by last year’s capital increase. CCR Re now has all the required resources to become a key player within the reinsurance market in Paris, in line with its ambitions.”
