Zurich The Zurich Insurance Group is awaiting the publication of new financial targets with a sharp increase in premiums. Hurricane “Ian” cost Europe’s fifth largest insurer an estimated $ 550 million net before tax. As a result, the January-September catastrophe loss ratio is estimated to be two percentage points above the long-term trend, Zurich said Thursday.
The company is on track to exceed its financial targets for the period from 2020 to 2022. Zurich intends to announce new requirements in the coming week.
In the largest division, property damage insurance, nine-month revenues adjusted for acquisitions and divestments and foreign exchange effects increased 13% to $ 33.5 billion. In life insurance, the so-called annual equivalent premium for new business increased 2% to $ 2.6 billion.
According to Zurich, it has a strong capital position. The solvency ratio according to the Swiss Solvency Test (SST) was 252 percent at the end of September. Under the SST rules, the company wants to hold at least 160 percent of the required capital.
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The group only publishes earnings data for the first half of the year and at the end of the year.
The share buyback will begin later this year
The prospect of the Zurich Insurance Group to buy back its shares with a volume of CHF 1.8 billion is expected to start in the current quarter. “The start is scheduled for the fourth quarter,” Chief Financial Officer George Quinn said Thursday. Quinn kept a low profile on dividend prospects.
He assumes shareholders will participate in the strong business development this year, he said. Dividends are the preferred way for owners to share in the company’s success, Quinn said.
Zurich announced the share buyback in August. The insurer wants to use this to compensate its shareholders for the loss of profit after the sale of the old life insurance portfolio in Germany.
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