Baloise insurance had a substantially higher profit in the first half, due in large part to a one-time effect. The result moves the company closer to reaching its strategic targets.
Net income at Baloise jumped to 395 million Swiss francs ($402 million) in the first half of 2019 from 269.7 million a year earlier, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
The increase was made possible by a one-off tax effect, which boosted profit by 128 million francs. Without the tax benefit, profit would have declined slightly to 267.3 million francs.
Life Premiums Jump
The Basel-based insurer sees itself in great shape and emphasized the increase by a third of premiums in the life business, which reached a total of 2.87 billion francs. The increase was primarily due to a competitor withdrawing from the group life insurance segment, Baloise said.
Pretax profit at the life unit dropped to 106.3 million francs from 193.6 million because the company had to strengthen the reserves due to the interest-rate environment.
Improved Combined Ratio
In non-life, premiums were virtually flat at 2.26 billion francs, while pretax profit reached 226.1 million – up from 145.1 million year ago, when the company had non-recurring effects on its books.
The core combined ratio improved to 87.4 percent from 94.1 percent and will likely reach the full-year target of 90 to 95 percent.
«Baloise is well on track to achieve its targets for the Simply Safe strategic phase,» said Chief Executive Gert De Winter in the statement.
Departure of Veteran Executive
The company separately said that Thomas Sieber, head of the corporate center, will leave Baloise in the summer of 2020. He will start his own business, Baloise added.
Sieber won't be replaced and the remaining executives will assume his duties. The departing manager had been with the firm for two decades and made himself a name in the digital transformation of the company.
