Zurich Achieves Record Business Operating Profit in 2024
Zurich Insurance Group has announced a landmark business operating profit of $7.8 billion in 2024. The Property & Casualty (P&C) segment has continued its positive trajectory through disciplined underwriting, achieving a combined ratio of 94.2%.
Operating profit from the P&C business alone reached $4.2 billion in 2024, marking an 8% increase compared to the previous year. Despite a challenging environment marked by less favorable commodity prices affecting the U.S. crop business, which reduced gross written premiums by $600 million, the segment managed to grow its premiums by 5%. Excluding the crop business, gross written premiums in P&C were up by 7%.
The year 2024 saw a slight improvement in the P&C combined ratio to 94.2%, a 0.2 percentage point enhancement from 2023. While there was a notable improvement in the loss ratio, it was somewhat offset by a rise in the expense ratio.
In the Life business sector, Zurich achieved a record operating profit of $2.2 billion, reflecting an 8% increase in 2024. The EMEA region experienced strong gains in fee-based businesses, an increase in the contractual service margin, a higher investment result, favorable market conditions in Germany and the UK, and nearly $150 million in non-recurring benefits.
However, in the Asia Pacific and North America regions, the underlying growth was tempered by the absence of favorable one-off impacts from the previous year. In Latin America, despite adverse market conditions in Argentina during the year’s first half, the technical results from short-term protection products continued to grow.
Zurich’s Life business saw an increase in gross premiums and new business premiums by 4% and 5%, respectively, driven by robust growth in preferred lines of protection and unit-linked products.
The Farmers segment reached an operating profit of $2.3 billion, matching its record level from 2023, with an improved combined ratio of 91.4%. Farmers Management Services posted a record result supported by higher gross earned premiums from the Farmers Exchanges and reduced operating expenses.
Overall, Zurich’s total business operating profit for 2024 was $7.8 billion, with a return on equity at 24.6%, and cash remittances amounting to $7.1 billion.
Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer at Zurich, expressed, “All our businesses delivered an outstanding performance in 2024. Our P&C and Life sectors have achieved their best-ever results, and Farmers has shown profitable growth. We continue to witness a positive rate environment in our commercial business and a favorable pricing landscape in the retail sector, positioning us strongly for the new cycle, for which we have already set our most ambitious targets yet. This underscores our ability to execute and our commitment to creating consistent long-term value for our stakeholders.”
Addressing the impact of the California wildfires, Zurich reiterated that initial estimates, as communicated by the Farmers Exchanges, point to an expected net pre-tax loss of $600 million and approximately $250 million in reinstatement premium payments. Zurich commented that Farmers’ robust capital base and underlying profitability equip it well to manage this event while continuing its growth trajectory. For Zurich, the pre-tax impact, including Farmers Re, is estimated at $200 million.
