The Basel-based insurance company had a lower-than-expected profit in the first half as the German business weighed on earnings.
First-half profit fell to 269.7 million Swiss francs ($276.1 million) from 299 million a year earlier, Baloise said in a statement on Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by «AWP» on average expected profit of 284.2 million francs.
The restructuring of the German liability insurance portfolio was isolated in a run-off unit and strengthened with reserves that reduced profit by 32.4 million francs, Baloise said. The combined ratio in non-life worsened 3 basis points to 94.1 percent as a consequence.
Restrictive Underwriting
The overall volume of business dropped 3.6 percent to 5.47 billion francs, primarily because of the restrictive underwriting policy in the traditional life business.
The new business margin in the life business reached 46.9 percent thanks to the selective underwriting and an improved business mix, the insurer also said.
In non-life, premiums rose 5.2 percent to 2.26 billion francs.
Innovation First
«We are on track in terms of our volume of business and earnings, and so I’m looking to the second half of 2018 with great optimism,» said Baloise CEO Gert De Winter.
The chief executive also mentioned that the insurer each month during the first half had launched a new insurance product, entered into a future-focused collaboration or invested in a company, a pace of innovation that the company hopes will come to fruition in the future.
