In its first nine month results, Zurich Insurance Group has reported that property & casualty insurance revenue grew 9% year-on-year to $31.4 billion, driven by strong growth in commercial and retail insurance.
Of this total revenue, Zurich disclosed that the EMEA region accounted for $12.7 billion, while the North American region accounted for $15.2 billion. Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region accounted for $2.6 billion, and Latin America $2.2 billion.
All regions saw substantial improvements from the same period last year.
Elsewhere, gross written premiums (GWP) in P&C also rose 9% compared with the prior-year period on a like-for-like basis, adjusting for currency movements.
They rose 8% in U.S. dollar terms, which Zurich said reflects the stronger U.S. dollar against major currencies.
According to the firm, growth was supported by higher premium rates in P&C, with commercial insurance experiencing a 7% increase in rates.
In EMEA, GWP increased by 7%, driven by a strong performance from all countries across the region, both in retail and commercial insurance.
GWP in North America grew 7% compared with the previous year. Strong growth across all lines of business was supported by a 9% rate change, mainly driven by property and motor lines, which was partially offset by a reduction in crop volumes year-on-year due to less favourable commodity price developments throughout the year, Zurich explained.
In Asia Pacific, GWP increased 11% on a like-for-like basis compared with the previous year. The firm noted that rebounding travel insurance sales in Australia and higher retail sales across the region were the main contributors.
Latin America saw an increase of 32% in GWP on a like-for-like basis, benefiting from strong commercial growth and higher retail sales across the region, particularly in Brazil and Mexico.
Zurich’s Life business also saw an improvement, as it continued to grow the top line and new business during the third quarter. In the first nine months, Life new business premiums increased 21% in U.S. dollar terms and 23% on a like-for-like basis, with growth in EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Finally, The Farmers Exchanges, which are owned by their policyholders, reported 2% growth in GWP in the first nine months.
Zurich said that the reduction in commercial rideshare business volumes in the first quarter dampened the benefit of increased rates.
On an underlying basis, excluding the commercial rideshare business, GWP increased by 5%. Gross earned premiums increased by 3% over the same period.
The firm continued, “The farmers Exchanges continue to focus on improving their underwriting performance. The third quarter continued to show a sequential improvement of the underwriting result of the Farmers Exchanges. The distinct third quarter combined ratio, excluding catastrophe losses, stood at 91.0%, compared with 93.9% in the second quarter and 94.3% in the first quarter of the year.”
George Quinn, Group Chief Financial Officer, commented, “We maintained momentum in the third quarter, delivering continued top-line growth following a very strong first half of the year and a great start to the new financial cycle.
“This makes us confident that we’ll be able to finish the year strongly and achieve our financial targets for 2023–2025.”
