Profit up for Zurich Insurance in first half of year

Zurich Insurance Group has reported a business operating profit of $2.6 billion, with net income attributable to shareholders of $2.1 billion for the first half of 2014.

Business operating profit was up 15% compared with the first half of 2013, with BOP for the second quarter totaling $1.2 billion. All figures are in U.S. dollars.

Net income attributable to shareholders for the second quarter was up 6% over the prior year quarter to $837 million, while net income for the first half was up 14% over 2013.

In General Insurance, business operating profit jumped from $1.37 billion in the first half of 2013 to $1.65 billion in the first six months of this year.

That increase was “driven by a substantially improved net underwriting result reflecting the favorable underlying loss experience and the absence of major catastrophe and weather-related losses, especially when compared with the prior year period,” Zurich said.

Gross written premiums and policy fees for General Insurance also increased by $225 million to $20.0 billion.

Zurich’s combined ratio for the first half of 2014 was 96.1%, a 2.0 point improvement compared with prior year. The second quarter combined ratio of 95.7% was an improvement of 3.4 points compared with Q2 in 2013.

“I am pleased to report a good set of results for the first half. We have seen clear progress on the execution of our strategy and delivery against our targets,” Zurich CEO Martin Senn commented in a statement on the results. “While still early in our three year plan, we are on track for our 2014 to 2016 targets.”

“We have made good progress against each of our three strategic cornerstones. Much of the groundwork for future investment in priority markets, like introducing better customer segmentation, has been completed,” he noted.

“We have also made progress in the businesses that we are managing for value, including the sale of the Russian retail business and exit from Zurich-branded aggregator distribution in the UK. And we are pleased to note further positive trends at the Farmers Exchanges, with improved customer satisfaction and agent retention. Finally, our strong cash generation reflects the continued stability of our business and we project that full-year cash remittances will be in excess of $3.5 billion, ahead of 2013.”