Floods, Ukraine push Swiss Re into the red

Swiss Re has posted a third-quarter loss of $US442 million ($688.64 million), hurt by floods in Australia and other large natural catastrophe claims.

That brings Swiss Re’s result for the nine months to September 30 to a loss of $US285 million ($443.96 million), compared with a profit of $US1.3 billion ($2.02 billion) a year earlier.

Swiss Re says natural catastrophe claims came to $US2.7 billion ($4.2 billion), mostly large claims related to Hurricane Ian in the US, floods in Australia and South Africa, and hailstorms in France.

First-quarter reserves of $US283 million ($440.74 million) related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and Swiss Re also bolstered reserves by $US700 million ($1.09 billion) over the past year in the face of a spike in inflation.

The property and casualty (P&C) reinsurance combined ratio deteriorated to 106.1% in 9M 2022, from 97.5% a year earlier. Net premiums earned increased to $16.6 billion ($25.86 billion), supported by price increases.

Swiss Re Group CEO Christian Mumenthaler says turbulence in the financial markets, an increase in natural catastrophe claims, surging inflation and the war in Ukraine all hurt financial performance.

“While P&C Re has been significantly affected by these headwinds, all other businesses are performing well and are on track to reach their 2022 financial targets,” he said, adding Swiss Re was in a favourable position for the upcoming renewals amid rising prices and constrained market capacity.

“We remain confident in our mid-term outlook. In this volatile environment, risk aversion and the need for protection will continue to increase.”

Life and Health (L&H) reinsurance earned a nine-month net income of $US221 million ($344.2 million), compared with a loss a year earlier, as claims related to covid roughly halved to $US608 million ($946.95 million).

In Corporate Solutions, the January-September combined ratio was 93.1%, from 91.1% a year earlier, despite natural catastrophe losses of $US187 million ($291.26 million), mainly related to Hurricane Ian and flooding in Australia.