Zurich Insurance Group suffered a decline in premiums in the first quarter of 2019, which the company said was due to the fluctuations of the U.S. dollar, the currency it reports in.

Zurich Insurance said it actually had a strong first quarter, despite the overall decline in premiums year-on-year, according to a statement released on Thursday. Like-for-like numbers by contrast increased slightly.

In property and casualty, premiums dropped 2 percent (up 4 percent like-for-like) to $9.18 billion; in the life business, premiums fell 6 percent (up 2 percent like-for-like) to $1.18 billion; and at Farmers, premiums rose 1 percent to $5.19 billion).

Emerging Markets Boost

Zurich Insurance expects to reach or exceed the targets set for the period between 2017 and 2019. Property and casualty pricing improved in the first quarter.

The strength of the U.S. dollar weighed on earnings mainly in the EMEA region of Europe, Middle East and Africa. More than half of property and casualty premiums of Zurich Insurance are generated in that region. The company had a strong improvement in emerging markets, with an increase of 14 percent in Asia Pacific and 10 percent in Latin America.