SCOR’s Q4 2024 Financial Highlights
French reinsurer SCOR posted a notable net income of €233 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a robust 43.2% increase from the same quarter in the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by an expansion in the property and casualty (P&C) segment, leading to a 2.5% rise in gross written premiums (GWP) across the Group, totaling €5.1 billion.
Despite facing challenges earlier in the year, SCOR’s Q4 performance helped balance the prior quarter’s net loss, though the overall net income for the entire year was down by 99.5%, amounting to just €4 million compared to 2023.
Group-Wide Performance in Q4 2024
Group insurance revenue saw an increase of 4% to €4 billion during the quarter. However, the insurance service result declined by 14.3% to €357 million, with an annualized return on equity (ROE) rising to 22.8%, up from 15% in Q4 2023. Excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares, net income improved by 31.4% to €235 million, while the contractual service margin dropped 8.9% year on year to €4.1 billion.
Full Year 2024 Overview
For the full year, SCOR reported Group insurance revenue of €16.1 billion, a modest 1.3% increase from 2023, and GWP of €20.1 billion, reflecting a 3.6% year-on-year growth. The insurance service result for 2024, however, dipped by 71% to €432 million, as the annualized ROE saw a drastic fall from 18.1% in 2023 to 0.1% in 2024. Net income, excluding the mark to market impact of the option on own shares, plummeted by 98.6% to €11 million.
The overall decrease in net income is attributed to the outcomes from the 2024 Life and Health (L&H) assumption review, impacting the insurance service result by €-700 million and the contractual service margin by €-900 million.
P&C Reinsurance Business Performance
In SCOR’s P&C re/insurance sector, Q4 2024 insurance revenue slightly decreased by 0.5% to €1.9 billion, but showed an increase of 1.9% for the full year, reaching €7.6 billion. The P&C insurance service result fell by 32.6% to €238 million in Q4’24 and dropped by 13.1% to €779 million for the entire year.
P&C GWP rose by 6.2% in Q4’24 to €2.5 billion and by 4.4% to €9.9 billion for FY’24. The combined ratio for P&C, although strong, worsened by 7.5 percentage points to 83.1% in Q4’24 and by 1.3 percentage points to 86.3% for the full year. The natural catastrophe ratio in Q4 included 6.4% impact from Hurricane Milton.
SCOR anticipates a €140 million pre-tax loss from the 2025 California wildfires, aligned with their nat cat budget for Q1 2025.
Life and Health Reinsurance Business
The L&H segment showed a stronger Q4 2024 performance compared to the previous quarter, despite being affected by the L&H assumption review for the full year. Q4’24 L&H insurance revenue grew by 8.6% year-over-year to €2.1 billion and by 0.7% to €8.5 billion for the year. The Q4 L&H insurance service result saw a significant increase of 87.5% to €119 million, although it decreased by 159.1% to €-348 million for FY’24.
Investment and Future Outlook
On the investment side, SCOR achieved a total investment income of €195 million in Q4’24, with a return on invested assets of 3.3%.
SCOR’s CEO, Thierry Léger, expressed satisfaction with the Q4 results, highlighting strong contributions from all business activities and a solid Group net income. Despite challenges, the P&C segment performed excellently, with the Nat Cat ratio remaining below budget and investments delivering strong returns. Léger emphasized the company’s commitment to restoring profitability in L&H and maintaining a solvency ratio of 210% at year-end. He expressed confidence in SCOR’s ability to grow profitably and deliver its Forward 2026 ambitions, with a proposed dividend of €1.8 per share.
