Helvetia boosts earnings by 41.9% in 2024

By Aidan Gregory

March 6 - (The Insurer) - Swiss insurer Helvetia grew its underlying earnings to 528.5 million Swiss francs ($594.5 million) in 2024, up 41.9% from the previous year, due to its focus on “profitable and capital-efficient” business lines, according to CEO Fabian Rupprecht.

In its earnings statement on Thursday, Helvetia reported net income of 502.4 million Swiss francs for 2024, up from 301.3 million Swiss francs in 2023. The insurer recorded an underlying return on equity of 12.3% last year, compared with 8.2% the previous year.

Helvetia said it remains highly capitalised, with a Swiss Solvency Test ratio of 290% at the start of 2025, enabling it to declare a dividend for last year of 6.70 Swiss francs a share, up 0.40 Swiss francs from 2023.

At its capital markets day in December, Helvetia announced a new strategy focused on its retail and specialty lines business, which included new financial targets for 2025 and beyond.

In the three years to 2027, Helvetia is targeting a return on equity of 13% to 16% and an underlying earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 9% to 11%.

Helvetia has also promised investors that it will as a minimum match the previous year’s dividend, with an ambition to return 1.2 billion Swiss francs to investors.

The new strategy also included a commitment to save 200 million Swiss francs of costs each year for the next three years.

Shares in Helvetia have gained more than 35.4% over the past year, giving the St Gallen-based insurer a market capitalisation of 9 billion Swiss francs on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The stock currently trades on a forward earnings multiple of 16.8 times, compared to an industry average of 9.7 times, according to LSEG data.