Zurich Insurance Group reports strong second-quarter results

Zurich Insurance Group recorded $1.1 billion in business operating profit during the second quarter of 2012, pushing its profit for the first half of the year to $2.5 billion.

Net after tax income to June 30 was $2.2 billion, while the first-half combined ratio for the Swiss-based insurer was 94.9%.

“Zurich’s performance demonstrates our strategy is working,” says Martin Senn, CEO of the company. “We have again achieved strong levels of profitability, a very good result in the challenging environment. Profitability is driven by the disciplined approach to underwriting and our continued focus on the insurance products that enable us to maintain a resilient performance in mature markets.”

Zurich Insurance Group cites less severe catastrophe losses compared to last year and strong organic growth in Latin America, North America and the United Kingdom as the primary reasons for the positive results.

In other company news, Zurich Insurance Group announced the appointment of Michael Kerner as the new CEO of General Insurance (GI). Kerner is currently CEO of Global Corporate in North America and will be based in Zurich, where he will be directly responsible to Senn.