The Co-operators reports $74-million profit in 2009

The Co-operators General Insurance Company reported a net income of $74 million in 2009, marking an increase from 2008’s net income of $53 million.
The insurer’s combined ratio improved in 2009 to 103.1% from 106.4% in 2008.
Gross written premium increased from $2.2 billion in 2008 to $2.6 billion last year.
The Co-operators General Insurance reported an improvement in its return on equity, from 4.8% in 2008 to 6.5% in 2009.
The insurer’s loss ratio also improved, dropping from 73.6% in 2008 to 70.5% last year.
The automobile loss ratio in 2009 decreased by 6.7% over 2008, while the home loss ratio increased 3.8%. This reflected “the impact of rising severity of losses, rising replacement and clean up costs, and a significant increase in the number of large loss claims,” the 2009 annual report said.
“Our Ontario loss ratio increased 2.1 percentage points, which can be attributed partially to increased losses experienced in the Greater Toronto Area on auto accident benefit claims.”
Western Canada saw an improvement in the loss ratio by 8.2%.
“This improvement corresponds to the final decision to reinstate the Alberta minor injury cap in the auto line of business, partially offset by major summer storms that were much higher than in 2008.”
Quebec also saw a reduction in loss ratio of 9.7% as the region avoided many of the large weather related events that occurred in the rest of the country, the report said.