Zurich is reporting that it saw a 25% rise in operating profit for H1 2022.
The firm said in a statement about its latest results that its group business operating profit had risen to $3,393m, which it said was its highest in fourteen years. Likewise, it said its P&C business operating profit was up by nearly a third to $2,055m. It also said that it had added 850,000 new retail customers in the first half of the year.
Mario Greco, chief executive officer of the firm, said: “We are on track to beat all our targets for the second successive three-year cycle. This is particularly remarkable because the last three years have brought unprecedented and unexpected challenges. These results show our agility and our commitment to deliver results, no matter what happens in the markets.”
He added: “Our first-half 2022 results show the solidity of our business and the value of our mid-term transformation. The P&C business reported today its best ever combined ratio, with continued robust top-line growth. Our Life business also continued to produce excellent results with one of the strongest ever performances for operating profit despite the adverse impact of capital markets and headwinds from currency movements. The planned sale of life and pension back books in Italy and Germany will further reduce the capital intensity of our business and will increase our flexibility.”
Growth was driven, said the firm, by an underlying improvement across all businesses. Natural catastrophe and weather-related claims were slightly above expected levels. It also reported that property and casualty gross written premiums grew by 13% on a like-for-like basis, with strong growth achieved in both commercial insurance and the retail business.
It added that growth continued to be supported by significant rate increases in the Group’s commercial business across all regions, with these trends expected to continue into 2023.
Zurich said that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has battered insurers and the financial markets in recent years, was continuing to see its impact on profit decline. It said Covid-19-related losses in the Life business fell to $26m from $137m, and at Farmers Life to $32m – mostly in the first quarter – from $42m. On the other hand, the benefits due to reduced claims frequency in the P&C business were immaterial compared with $109m in the prior-year period.
