Desjardins General Insurance posts strong Q2 results

Desjardins General Insurance Group (DGIG)’s net income for 2012 Q2 was $39.5 million, more than double the $16.6 million in 2011 Q2.

DGIG’s loss ratio for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 fell to 71% – 5.9% lower than in the second quarter of 2011 – despite severe rains and flooding this spring in Montreal, Quebec and Thunder Bay, Ontario. “This helped drive the combined ratio down 6.4 percentage points to 96.1% for the quarter,” notes the company, a Desjardins Group subsidiary that specializes in property and casualty insurance.

Direct written premiums in 2012 Q2 were up 9% to $550 million over 2011 Q2. All business areas – mass market home and auto insurance, group insurance, white label partnerships and commercial lines – contributed to the market growth.

The company notes that results for the first half of 2012 were also encouraging, with net income and direct written premiums up, and loss ratio down.

During the first six months of 2012, DGIG saw net income increase $45.6 million to $103.8 million over the first half of 2011. Also for the first half of 2012, the loss ratio dropped 4.1% to 67.4%, the combined ratio decreased 4.2% to 92.3%, and direct written premiums increased 8.9% to $1.0 billion compared with the same period last year.

Sylvie Paquette, president and CEO of DGIG, says she is particularly pleased by the strong growth in an increasingly competitive p&c insurance market. “We are determined and well-positioned to continue this growth through the rest of the year, and into the future.”