General insurance segment of Zurich Insurance Group increases profit in 2012 Q1

Zurich Insurance Group’s general insurance segment reported a $576-million increase in its business operating profit in 2012 Q1, reflecting a lower number of catastrophe events compared to the same period last year.

The general insurance segment’s quarterly profit rose from $280 million to $856 million, while written premiums and policy fees increased by $370 million up to $10.5 billion.

“Sustained focus on disciplined underwriting and expense management has continued to deliver improvements in the underlying underwriting results with the combined ratio improving 8.9 percentage points to 94.6%,” Zurich Insurance Group reported in a press release. “The segment further benefited from lower levels of loss events compared with the catastrophic events of 2011 in Japan, New Zealand and Australia.”

For the Zurich Insurance Group as a whole, profits increased from $640 million in 2011 Q1 to $1.143 billion in 2012 Q1.