Zurich (awp) – The insurer Zurich Insurance recorded an increase in premiums in its main property and casualty business over the first nine months of 2024, benefiting in particular from a particularly strong acceleration in the Latin America region.
Between January and the end of September, the Zurich group recorded premiums up 4% over one year to $36.13 billion in the Property & Casualty unit, its core business, it announced Thursday in a press release.
Costs related to natural disasters increased slightly. In the third quarter, the company recorded charges of $160 million related to Hurricane Helene, which wreaked devastation in late September in part of the eastern and southeastern United States. As for Hurricane Milton, which crossed Florida in October, costs in the fourth quarter are estimated at less than 200 million before taxes.
For the floods that recently devastated the Valencia region in Spain, the insurer is not counting on “very high material costs”, underlined financial director Claudia Cordioli during a conference call, without giving a quantified forecast.
The Zurich insurer is certainly present in Spain, but exposure to flooding is relatively low, added the manager. A large part of the damage is covered by the public natural disaster insurance Consorcio.
Low disaster costs
In life insurance, new premiums increased by 4% to 12.61 billion and also by 4% to 21.53 billion with the American partner Farmers.
While premiums in property and casualty insurance are higher than expected, other key figures are in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by the AWP agency.
The insurer’s capitalization also remained solid, with a ratio measured by the Swiss Solvency Test (SST) at 224% at the end of September, after 232% at the end of the first half.
For the period 2023 to 2025, the group is notably targeting a return on equity of 20%, a level exceeded in the first half when this indicator reached 25%. Zurich Insurance will unveil its new three-year strategic objectives (2025 to 2027) on November 21, during its investor day.
“We are on track to exceed all our current objectives,” rejoiced the financial director.
Jefferies analysts noted the low damage costs suffered by the Zurich insurer, compared to its peers. Experts from the Zurich Cantonal Bank, for their part, applauded the “solid evolution of volumes” and “advantageous announcements” over the first nine months of the year. The increase in premiums in general insurance was notably supported by price increases, while new business supported life insurance, they added.
The announcements seemed to suit investors, with the insurer’s title ending the Swiss Stock Exchange session up 0.27% at 522.00 Swiss francs. The flagship SMI index closed up 0.59%.
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