Swiss insurer Baloise generated a substantially bigger profit in the first six months of the year, despite only a modest increase in business volumes. Part of the reason for the improvement was the solution of problems it had in Germany last year.
Baloise had a first-half profit of 298.6 million Swiss francs in the six months through June, 34 percent more than in the same period of 2016, the company said in a statement today.
Business volumes increased in most segments, but at a much slower pace. Non-life was up 1 percent, traditional life declined 0.2 percent and investment-type premiums were up by 2.9 percent.
The profit at Baloise was boosted by a strong improvement in the profitability of the non-life business, the Basel-based company said. The net combined ratio measured up to 89.7 percent, compared with 92.5 percent a year ago. The ratio had been adversely affected by one-off additions to reserves in Germany in the first half of 2016.
Investment-Type Premiums Rise
In the life business, the level of interest rates resulted in less strengthening of reserves compared to the first half of 2016.
The group’s business volume added 0.8 percent to 5.67 billion francs, driven by non-life business and investment-type premiums. The net combined ratio was below 100 percent in all Baloise units in the first half.
Investment-type premiums increased 2.9 percent, while the volume in traditional life insurance was almost unchanged.
De Winter: «On Track»
In banking, pretax profit was down by a quarter to 41.9 million francs. The figure last year had been boosted by a non-recurring item. The asset management division achieved a return on insurance assets of 1.4 percent.
«We entered the new strategic phase with a great deal of ambition, launching numerous product innovations and digitalization initiatives in the first half of the year,» said Baloise CEO Gert De Winter, in the statement. «Baloise is on the right track.»
