SWISS Re reports very strong third-quarter net income of USD 2.2 billion (in comparison to USD 1.3 billion in the year-earlier period), and a return on equity of 28%, "driven by continued strong performance from P&C Reinsurance and a one-off gain from the sale of the ADMIN Re US business", as the company announced.

"We have achieved very good financial results in a volatile environment. A low large loss burden and the one-off gain from the sale of the ADMIN Re US business in the quarter undoubtedly helped, but the excellent performance in P&C Reinsurance shows that our underlying business continues to perform strongly", said Michel M. LIES, SWISS Re's Group Chief Executive Officer.

Premiums earned increased "in-line with targets" by 11% to USD 6.6 billion (vs. USD 5.9 billion in Q3 2011) while SWISS Re's Group combined ratio was 72% (vs. 85.3%).

Net income in Property-Casualty Reinsurance was USD 1 billion, while the premiums earned increased by 15% to USD 3.3 billion.

Net income in Life & Health Reinsurance was USD 187 million (compared with a profit of USD 492 million a year earlier), "lifted by significant realized gains". At the same time, premiums earned and fee income increased 6% to USD 2.3 billion.

Last but not least, Corporate Solutions posted a quarterly profit of USD 110 million (premiums earned rose by 12% to USD 588 million), while the net income reported by ADMIN Re totaled USD 823 million (vs. USD 195 million), "boosted by gain on sale of US business".

Read the full release here.