With the release of its first-quarter results, the Zurich Group expects to exceed its targets for this year despite the Ukraine war.
Zurich Insurance Group reported an increase in gross premiums of 8 percent in the first quarter at its property and casualty insurance, a unit which represents 12 percent growth on a comparable basis, the company said Thursday. That brings total gross written premiums written to $11.9 billion.
Its life insurance unit saw an increase in annual premium equivalents of 14 percent on a like-for-like basis, bringing the total to just under one billion dollars to $996 million.
Claims from Ukraine War
While the war in Ukraine is expected to lead to significant losses for the insurance industry overall, Zurich will not be greatly affected.
«Although the effects of the war are expected to lead to significant losses for the insurance industry, we do not expect insurance claims to be significant for the group. In fact, the group has made a strong start to the year and expects to exceed all financial targets for 2022», Group CFO George Quinn said.
Inflation has become a growing concern in the financial markets, and several prominent central banks have started tightening their monetary policy or have announced their intention to do so.
Inflationary Pressures
But «Despite inflationary pressures, we expect rates to exceed the loss-cost trend well into 2023. The positive operating trends in the first quarter, together with the group’s very strong balance sheet, give us confidence that we will successfully conclude the current strategic cycle later this year», Quinn said.
Zurich is also in talks to sell its portfolio of German life insurance policies to Viridium, as finews.com reported. Although the sale is not final and still under discussion, a successful deal would release about $1.2 billion in capital for the insurer.
So far in the first quarter, Switzerland's insurance sector is off to a good start. Yesterday Swiss Life reported double-digit fee growth, as well as higher income from premiums.
