Swiss Re reports a net income of USD 2.1 billion for the first half of 2024

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 LR

• Property & Casualty Reinsurance (P&C Re) H1 2024 net income of USD 989 million; combined ratio of 84.5%[1]
• Successful P&C Re July 2024 renewals, consistent with targets
• Life & Health Reinsurance (L&H Re) H1 2024 net income of USD 883 million
• Corporate Solutions H1 2024 net income of USD 435 million; combined ratio of 88.7%[2]
• Return on investments (ROI) of 4.0%; recurring income yield of 4.0%

Zurich, 22 August 2024 – Swiss Re reported a profit of USD 996 million in the second quarter of 2024, resulting in a net income of USD 2.1 billion and a return on equity (ROE) of 20.1% for the first half of the year. The Group's financial performance was supported by strong contributions from all Business Units, and Swiss Re maintains its full-year targets.

Swiss Re's Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: "Swiss Re's performance in the first half of 2024 reflects our focus on delivering consistent results. We continue to increase the overall resilience of the firm through a disciplined approach to underwriting new business while remaining on top of loss trends across our in-force portfolios."

Swiss Re's Group Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said: "These results highlight our focus on capital allocation discipline and quality across our underwriting and investment portfolios. Additionally, higher interest rates continue to benefit our investment income."

Group result benefits from disciplined underwriting and strong investment income
Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 2.1 billion and an ROE of 20.1% for the first half of 2024. The main drivers for this result were disciplined underwriting, low natural catastrophe claims and strong investment income.

Insurance revenue[3] for the Group amounted to USD 22.5 billion. The insurance service result[4], which reflects profitability of the underwriting activity, was USD 2.9 billion.

The Group achieved a strong return on investments (ROI) of 4.0%, driven by contributions from recurring income. The recurring income yield for the first half of 2024 was 4.0%, while the reinvestment yield for the second quarter stood at 4.8%, continuing to benefit from higher interest rates.

P&C Re maintains performance with disciplined underwriting

P&C Re reported a net income of USD 989 million in the first half of 2024. This was primarily driven by disciplined underwriting and low large natural catastrophe experience, alongside strong investment income. The insurance revenue for the first half of 2024 was USD 9.8 billion.

In property and specialty lines, the low reported natural catastrophe claims in the first half of the year were partially offset by selected additions across natural catastrophe and man-made loss reserves, the large majority of which were in the form of incurred-but-not-reported reserves. P&C Re also increased reserves on specific casualty lines.

P&C Re achieved an insurance service result of USD 1.4 billion and a combined ratio of 84.5%, despite the additions to reserves and the uncertainty load introduced on all lines since the beginning of this year. P&C Re targets a combined ratio below 87% for the full year.

Successful July P&C Re renewals

P&C Re renewed contracts with USD 4.5 billion in treaty premium volume on 1 July 2024. This represents a 7% volume increase compared with the business that was up for renewal. Overall, P&C Re achieved a price increase of 8% in this renewal round. Based on a continued prudent view on inflation and updated loss models, loss assumptions increased by 10%. The resulting portfolio quality is consistent with the Group's 2024 financial targets.

L&H Re performance supported by improved US mortality experience
L&H Re reported a net income of USD 883 million in the first half of 2024, reflecting positive US mortality experience and higher investment income. This was partially offset by unfavourable developments in the EMEA region.

L&H Re achieved an insurance revenue of USD 8.7 billion and an insurance service result of USD 1.0 billion.

Following a successful first half of 2024, L&H Re continues to target a net income of approximately USD 1.5 billion for the full year.

Corporate Solutions continues to deliver strong results
Corporate Solutions reported a net income of USD 435 million in the first half of 2024. The continued strong result reflects a consistent underlying business performance, further enhanced by benign claims experience in the first six months of the year and supported by a strong investment income. Insurance revenue for the first half of 2024 was USD 3.8 billion. Nominal rates increased by approximately 3% for the first half of the year, remaining flat on a risk-adjusted basis.

Stringent portfolio steering and disciplined underwriting resulted in strong in-force and new business margins complemented by low man-made loss experience. Large natural catastrophe losses of USD 138 million were mainly driven by the Noto earthquake in Japan and Tropical Cyclone Megan in Australia.

Corporate Solutions achieved an insurance service result of USD 509 million and a combined ratio of 88.7% for the first half of 2024. Corporate Solutions targets a combined ratio below 93% for the full year.

Withdrawal from iptiQ proceeding as planned
iptiQ reported a net loss of USD 182 million for the first half of 2024, including one-off impairments of goodwill and intangibles of (pre-tax) USD 111 million related to the withdrawal from the business announced in May 2024.

Outlook

Swiss Re's Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: "After a strong start in the first half of this year, we maintain our 2024 targets, including Group net income of more than USD 3.6 billion. Amid a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, we continue to focus on disciplined underwriting to maintain and where possible improve the resilience of our portfolios to enable delivery of consistent results."

Details of H1 2024 performance

[1] P&C Re combined ratio is defined as [–Insurance service expense (net) / Insurance revenue (net)].

[2] Corporate Solutions combined ratio is defined as [–(Insurance service expense (gross) + Reinsurance result + Non-directly attributable expenses) / Insurance revenue (gross)].

[3] Insurance revenue (gross) reflects the expected discounted claims and expenses, release of risk capital costs, as well as release of expected profit for the services provided in a period.

[4] Insurance service result reflects the discounted underwriting profit earned from providing insurance coverage in a given period, and comprises insurance revenue (gross) less insurance service expenses (gross) plus reinsurance result.

Financial calendar

14 November 2024 Nine-month 2024 results
27 February 2025 Full-year 2024 results
13 March 2025 Publication of the Annual Report 2024
11 April 2025  161st Annual General Meeting

Media conference call

Swiss Re will hold a virtual media conference this morning at 10:30 CEST. You can join the media conference via your computer or Teams mobile app here: Microsoft Teams Meeting.

Investor and analyst call

Swiss Re will hold an investors' and analysts' webcast at 14:00 CEST, which will focus exclusively on Q&A. The investor and analyst presentation can be accessed here.