Swiss Re group net income up, down for P&C reinsurance

Swiss Re Group reported Thursday a net income of $786 million for the second quarter of 2013, up from $83 million in the same quarter of 2012, despite this spring having had a high number of catastrophes.

The company reported that all of its business segments contributed positively to growth.

“Our company has delivered another robust performance,” noted group CEO Michel M. Liès. “This comes against the backdrop of high claims, especially those caused by the devastating floods in Europe and Canada.”

Net realized gains from investments for the group were $309 million (compared with $486 million in Q2 2012).

For its property and casualty reinsurance business, the company reported a net income of $468 million, versus $717 million in the second quarter of 2012. “Mark-to-market gains on private equity, realised gains on investments and a lower tax rate helped the result,” it said.

Premiums earned in that segment during the quarter were $3.2 billion, a 12% increase over the comparable quarter last year, “due primarily to the expiry of a major quota share agreement,” according to Swiss Re.

The combined ratio for the segment was 100.7%, compared with 81.0% in Q2 last year, reflecting the Europe and Canadian floods and lower reserve releases, the company said.

Swiss Re also reported good July renewals in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand.

This month, the company will also officially begin celebrating its 150th anniversary. “At Swiss Re we are proud of our 150-year tradition of supporting economic progress and stability,” Liès commented.

“We are already looking at how we will continue that commitment. This includes strategic themes such as big data and ever more sophisticated analytics or new ways of reaching clients.

This adds to our already intense focus on high growth markets and all the efforts are directed towards increasing access to insurance for the people in the world who are currently underinsured.”