Net income at Swiss Re declined slightly in the first quarter as several events led to major claims. Premiums increased in all business units.
Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, had a profit of $429 million in the first three months of 2019, down from $457 million in the same period of 2018, according to a statement released on Friday.
Property and casualty, the biggest business of the reinsurer, posted a profit of $13 million, down from $345 million a year ago. The combined ratio was 110.3 percent, compared with 92 percent a year ago, a reflection of the large claims that followed the floods in Australia ($210 million) and the crash of the Boeing 737 Max of Ethiopian Airlines and the grounding of the fleet of similar aircraft ($90 million). Net premiums increased 11 percent to $4.2 billion.
Life and health insurance, the second major unit at Swiss Re, had a profit of $328 million, up from $201 million a year ago, while net premiums dropped to $3.1 billion from $3.3 billion. The decline in net premiums was attributed to unfavorable foreign-exchange movements and the termination of an intra-group retrocession agreement with Life Capital.
IPO of ReAssure Evaluated
The corporate solutions business had a net loss of $55 million (prior year: net income of $41 million). The result was affected by large and medium sized man-made losses. The combined ratio increased to 116.3 percent. «The business unit is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of all business lines and reserve positions,» the company said in the statement.
Life capital, the smallest division, had net of $7 million, up from $3 million. Premiums rose substantially from $301 million to $426 million. Swiss Re continues to evaluate an initial public offering of the ReAssure closed book business later this year.
Share Buy-Back
Swiss Re will launch the first tranche of its public share buy-back program of as much as 1 billion Swiss francs on May 6, 2019.
