Swiss Re AG said Friday that claims related to Hurricane Ian in the U.S. drove it to a third-quarter loss as its property & casualty business suffered.
The Zurich-based reinsurer
SREN,
said it made a loss of $442 million in the three months to the end of September, from a profit of $212 million in the same period last year.
In preliminary results, Swiss Re said it expected a net loss of around $500 million.
Its property & casualty segment was particularly harshly hit, registering a net loss of $599 million for the period.
The company previously flagged claims from Hurricane Ian, which struck Florida and neigbouring states, at around $1.3 billion, and said it had been affected by an increase in small- and mid-sized claims in the third quarter.
“While P&C reinsurance has been significantly affected by these headwinds, all other businesses are performing well and are on track to reach their 2022 financial targets,” Swiss Re’s Chief Executive Christian Mumenthaler said.
The company’s life & health and corporate-solutions business continued to deliver strong results, Swiss Re said, with profits of $219 million and $136 million, respectively.
The company has increased reserves to address inflation, Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said, with rising interest rates already helping to compensate for the impact.
Return on equity was minus 13.2% in the quarter, and return on investments was 2.4%, hit by negative mark-to-market impacts.
Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@dowjones.com
