Swiss Re reports increase in 2011 net income, despite impact of natural catastrophes

CORRECTION:

In a news item posted on Feb. 23, Canadian Underwriter incorrectly stated that Swiss Re’s 2011 net income declined, when it had in fact increased. Canadian Underwriter apologizes for making this error, and the item below includes the correct information.

Swiss Re reported a net income $2.6 billion for the full-year 2011, despite an exceptional natural catastrophe burden.

The reinsurer said its property and casualty segment was significantly affected by the exceptional accumulation of natural catastrophe events that occurred in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States during the year.

The P&C operating result for 2011 declined 48.1% to $1.3 billion (vs $2.5 billion in 2010) due to this burden and reduced investment income.

This was partly offset by the favourable development of prior accident years, the company added, leading to reserve releases of around $1.3 billion. The combined ratio increased to 101.6% in 2011 (vs 93.9% in 2010), reflecting the significant natural catastrophe burden that contributed 29.6 percentage points.

Adjusted for natural catastrophes and reserve releases, the combined ratio was 92.9%.