After releasing its best first-half group results in 10 years earlier today, Swiss insurance group Zurich has now revealed its numbers for the UK market.
Zurich UK has announced earnings of £248 million in the first six months of 2019 ending June 30 – up 74% from £142 million in 2018. Tulsi Naidu, chief executive officer of Zurich UK, attributed the positive performance to strong underwriting discipline, enhanced customer propositions, and reduced costs.
“This is a very strong performance, with year-on-year profits up 74%,” said Tulsi Naidu, chief executive officer of Zurich UK. “I’m very pleased with the broad-based progress we are making across our UK businesses. We have a strong franchise, a simpler, more digital platform and, with positive trading momentum behind us, we look forward to the second half, and beyond, with confidence.”
Read more: Zurich reveals positive half-year results
Zurich’s UK general insurance business delivered a particularly strong first-half performance, with profits increasing 144% to £185 million and the combined ratio improving to 85.6%.
“This is an excellent set of numbers,” said Naidu. “While we have benefited from benign weather and continued favourable claims development, the core underlying performance is strong and reflects our focus on technical excellence and a disciplined and targeted approach to growth.”
Meanwhile, the insurer said that its life & savings (L&S) business operating profit of £63 million is in line with its expectations, albeit slightly behind the £67 million reported a year ago. On an underlying basis, the business operating profit result is 2% ahead of 2018. New business value generated by L&S is 38% ahead of 2018 on a like-for-like basis.
“Our life results are solid, and behind the headline numbers some very pleasing themes are emerging,” said Naidu. “Our retail protection proposition is delivering the choice and convenience that customers and advisers demand, and they are repaying us with their business. This has been a standout success, spurring a 146% increase in APE [annual premium equivalent] from independent financial advisers on our term protection products. Overall, our life earnings are pleasing, and we have seen improvement in the underlying year-on-year results.”
“I’m grateful to everyone in our UK team, whose hard work and talent has helped us reach this important milestone in the transformation and growth of our business,” said Naidu. “And our sincere thanks to our customers and distribution partners for placing their ongoing trust and support in us.”
