Swiss Re has ended the 2022 financial year with a 67% drop in its net profit to 472 million USD against 1.437 billion USD in 2021. This performance was influenced by economic inflation, the impact of the market value on equity investments and the increase in natural catastrophe claims.
As at 31 December 2022, the P&C Re class of business posted a net profit of 312 million USD, representing an 86% decline over a year. Natural catastrophe claims amounted to 2.7 billion USD.
Some of the most significant climatic events of the year were hurricane Ian, the floods in Australia and South Africa, the hailstorms in France as well as the winter storms in Europe and the United States. The combined non-life ratio fell by 5.3 points to 102.4%.
After having recorded a net loss of 478 million USD, the life and health activity (L&H Re) has posted a net profit of 416 million USD at the end of 2022. This performance was boosted by the decreasing Covid-19 losses which totaled 588 million USD against 2 billion USD one year earlier. The direct insurance subsidiary, Corporate Solutions, has generated a net result of 486 million USD, representing a 16% drop over twelve months.
By the end of December 2022, Swiss Re [4] has achieved a 0.9% growth in its net earned premiums reaching 43.118 billion USD.
A dividend of 6.4 USD per share will be proposed at the annual general meeting to be held on 12 April 2023.
For the year 2023, the Swiss group is expecting a net profit of 3 billion USD, driven by successful P&C Re renewals, a downturn in Covid-19 claims and higher interest rates.