Zurich Insurance company shows substantial profit reduction

Zurich Insurance Company News Building in Leeds

The general coverage business from the firm has recorded an operating loss making insurance news headlines.

Zurich Insurance Group has recently reported that the insurance company has experienced a 79 percent drop in its net profit for the third quarter of 2015, requiring the firm to have to change gears with regards to a number of strategies it had planned to implement.

Among the scrapped plans in this insurance news included a sizeable acquisition mean to boost financial performance.

The insurance company, based in Zurich, stated that its net profit within the period that came to a close with the end of September had fallen to $207 million. At the same time in 2014, that same figure had been a dramatically higher $966 million. Still, the predictions made by analysts had been that the firm would reach a net profit of $222 million. Clearly, it the business was able to exceed the predictions for the third quarter, despite the plummet in the numbers.

The insurance company also saw a drop – though not as large – in gross written premiums and policy fees.

Zurich Insurance Company News Building in LeedsThose figures had been at $12.9 billion in the third quarter of 2014, but this year’s Q3 number was $12.3 billion. According to the insurer, its total return on group investments during July through September was 1.1%. Comparatively, the same quarter the year before saw 1.5%.

The largest unit at the firm, the general insurance business, stated that it had a combined ratio of 108.9 percent for that quarter. The combined ratio is a term given to a measurement of the amount of money that is paid out for insurance claims and other costs for every dollar that is earned by the insurer. If the underwriting business is considered to be profitable when the ratio is under 100 percent.

The general insurance business at Zurich reported that it had experienced a $183 million operating loss during the months starting at the beginning of July and ending with the close of September.

At the end of that period, the insurance company closed its intentions to acquire the RSA Insurance Group PLC from the United Kingdom, for what would likely have been $8.8 billion.

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