Company results
AIA's profit hits $3bn
The Hong Kong listed insurer beat profit estimates of $2.7bn for the fiscal year ending 30 November 2012.
LV boss O'Roarke calls for "sanity" in 2013 motor market
LV general insurance managing director John O’Roarke is hopeful that "sanity" will be restored in the personal lines motor market in the year ahead and is predicting falling rates to pick up.
QBE unveils cost-cutting plan as Burns takes group CFO role
QBE Europe chief executive Steven Burns is to relocate to Australia to take over from Neil Drabsch as group chief financial officer.
QBE European premium up 6% to £3.2bn
QBE has reported an 8% rise in net profit after tax to US$761m (2011: $704m) in 2012, while insurance profit was up 16% to $1.26bn (2011: $1.08bn) supported by a strong investment result.
LV investment return soars as 2012 floods take toll on COR
LV underwriting profit suffered a £25m hit last year, as the firm’s combined operating ratio increased to 99.7% (FY 2011: 97.7%) as a result of adverse weather conditions during large parts of 2012.
QBE's 2012 profit below forecast; 700 jobs to be offshored
Global insurer QBE had an 8% increase in profit last year, but this fell below expectations as natural catastrophes hit the bottom line.
Generali bolstered by P&C growth in Germany and CEE countires
Generali has reported an increase in premiums to € 70bn (+3.2%) with a 3.3% growth in property & casualty to €22.8bn.
Torrance praises Allianz "discipline" in commercial lines
Allianz has attributed its success in commercial lines to a “disciplined approach” in risk assessment and pricing.
Allianz UK profit slides 4.3% to £161.5m
Allianz reported a 4.3% fall in operating profit to £161.5m in 2012 (2011: £168.7m). The insurer's combined ratio also deteriorated to 96.3% from 95.7% in 2011.
Hiscox profit soars to £217m
Hiscox has reported a pre-tax profit of £217.1m for the full-year 2012, dwarfing the 2011 result of £17.3m, and improving its group combined ratio by 14 percentage points to 85.5%. Gross written premium increased to £1.57bn (2011: £1.45bn).
AIG income falls to $3.4bn in 2012
AIG's net income fell to $3.4bn (£2.23bn), or $2.04 per diluted share, in 2012 compared with $20.6bn, or $11.01 per diluted share, the year earlier.
Sandy hit AIG reports $4bn Q4 loss
American International Group reported a net loss of $3.4bn for the full year 2012, following a net loss of $4bn for the fourth quarter.
Analyst opinion divided on RSA dividend cut
News that RSA plans to cut its dividend has been met with a mixed reaction from the analyst community.
Lancashire produces stable profit despite $44m Sandy loss
Lancashire Holdings saw an increase in gross written premium in 2012 to $724.3m (£475.8m) compared to $632.3m the year before. Its net operating profit slightly increased to $220.3m (2011: $219m) over 2012, and its combined operating ratio was reasonably…
Axa sees 3% drop in revenue from Southern Europe
Axa’s Southern European revenues have been hit by the difficult economic environment but mature market revenues continued to increase.
Swiss Re full year net income rises to $4.2bn
Swiss Re posted net income of $4.2bn for the full year 2012, driven by strong profitability in property and casualty reinsurance and strong investment result.
Axa UK & I GI revenue rises 2% to £3.8bn
The cost of flooding and storm damage claims pushed Axa UK & Ireland's combined ratio to over 100% in 2012 - a deterioration of 0.8 points compared to 2011 - despite underlying earnings improving year-on-year by £62m to £134m.
RSA's Brown: Commercial lines needs double-digit rate strength
RSA's chief executive of UK & Western Europe Adrian Brown has claimed the UK commercial market is "broadly underpriced by 10% to 15%".
Tesco Underwriting COR fails to drop below 100%
Tesco Underwriting’s combined operating ratio has remained above 100% despite seeing net profit rise in line with where it should be, according to Ageas chief executive Andy Watson.
RSA says Italy segment on track to break even in 2013
RSA posted 5% premium growth for the year ended December 2012, however its underwriting result was flat at €375m owing to adverse weather and earthquakes in Italy.
RSA's UK profit falls 37% as commercial losses take toll
RSA blamed adverse weather in the first half of 2012 and a weak marine and commercial liability performance on UK underwriting profit tumbling to £39m (2011: £62m) while the combined ratio was 98.2% (2011: 97.3%).
Ageas reports £82.9m profit as income exceeds £2bn
Ageas UK has increased profit by 11% to £82.9m in 2012 compared to the 2011 figure of £74.7m and a combined ratio of 99.8% (2011: 99.9%)
RSA increases premium by 5% and cuts dividend
RSA Group has reported operating profit of £684m (2011: £727m) for 2012 including an entirely flat underwriting result of £375m.
Top five European news stories
The top five European news stories from www.insuranceinsight.com over the past seven days.