Zurich Insurance Nine-Month Gross Written Premiums Rose

By Dominic Chopping

Zurich Insurance Group AG said Thursday that property and casualty gross written premiums rose in the first nine months of the year, boosted by higher premiums within commercial insurance.

The Swiss insurer said gross written premiums at its property and casualty division came in at $33.5 billion, up 13% from a year earlier on a like-for-like basis.

Life new business annual premium equivalent was $2.6 billion, down from $2.75 billion a year earlier, Zurich said. This key industry metric, known as APE, measures new business growth.

The third quarter saw elevated natural-catastrophe losses driven mainly by Hurricane Ian in the U.S., for which the company recognized a net impact of $550 million on a pre-tax basis, it said.

"We saw robust premium increases across the group, most notably in our North American Property & Casualty business," Chief Financial Officer George Quinn said.

"We expect margin trends in our commercial insurance business to be positive into 2023."

The Life business continues to experience positive operating trends, offset by the strong U.S. dollar and weaker financial markets, Zurich Insurance said.

The group remains on track to exceed its strategic and financial targets for the 2020-22 cycle, it said.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 10, 2022 01:33 ET (06:33 GMT)

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