Zurich Insurance Net Profit Down 12% in 2nd Quarter -- Update

By John Letzing

ZURICH--Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN.EB) said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 12% from the same period last year, as the insurance major was weighed down by lower capital gains and restructuring charges.

The Zurich-based company said net profit for the quarter fell to $739 million from $840 million. Analysts had expected a net profit of $673 million for the period.

Total business volumes, a measure of gross written premiums, policy fees and other items, rose 7% compared with the year-ago quarter, to $18.47 billion, Zurich Insurance said.

The company said its total return on investments in the period was 2%, compared with a loss of 2.5% in the same quarter last year.

In March, former Assicurazioni Generali SpA Chief Executive Mario Greco assumed the chief executive role at Zurich Insurance after a difficult period for the Swiss insurer under Mr. Greco's predecessor, Martin Senn. Mr. Greco, who earlier had been a Zurich Insurance executive, has pledged to restore "the credibility of the company."

Zurich Insurance's largest business, general insurance, which the company has sought to revamp, posted a 1% fall in gross written premiums and policy fees in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year, to $18.5 billion, the company said Thursday.

The general insurance business reported a 3% gain in business operating profit in the first half, compared with the same period last year, while its combined ratio remained relatively flat at 98.4%. The combined ratio is a measure of how much is paid on claims and costs for each dollar earned. A ratio of less than 100% means that an insurance company's underwriting business is profitable.

Write to John Letzing at John.Letzing@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2016 01:41 ET (05:41 GMT)

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