Swiss Re beats consensus with 86% P&C reinsurance combined ratio

By Scott Vincent

May 16 - (The Insurer) - Swiss Re reported a first-quarter P&C reinsurance combined ratio of 86% on Friday, beating consensus by 2.5 percentage points.

The group’s P&C reinsurance division reported natural catastrophe losses of $570 million for the quarter, below consensus expectations of $714 million.

First-quarter natural catastrophe losses totalled 29% of the full-year budget, and were largely attributed to January’s Los Angeles wildfires. The division also recorded $140 million of man-made losses in Q1.

Swiss Re has targeted a P&C reinsurance combined ratio of 85% or below for the full year.

The division reported net income of $527 million for the quarter, down from $555 million for the first three months of 2024.

For the April renewals, Swiss Re reported a 2.8% volume increase with $2.2 billion of treaty premium volume renewed. While prices increased by 1.5%, loss assumptions rose by 3.7% in the renewal round.

At group level, Swiss Re reported net income of $1.3 billion for the quarter, up from $1.1 billion a year ago.

The company reported a return on equity of 22.4% for the quarter, up from 20.7% in Q1 2024.

Group insurance revenue totalled $10.4 billion, down from $11.7 billion in the prior-year period, while Swiss Re reported an insurance service result of $1.3 billion, down from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

The group’s Corporate Solutions division reported a combined ratio of 88.4% for the quarter, ahead of the 90.5% consensus forecast and the company’s 91% full-year target.

Corporate Solutions reported net income of $208 million for the quarter, up from $195 million in Q1 2024. The division generated an insurance service result of $240 million, compared with $213 million in the prior-year quarter.