According to the financial results for 2020, Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) reported a decline in profit for the full year 2020, with the first half impacted by COVID-19 and a return to growth in the second half. Throughout the year, Zurich focused on supporting customers and colleagues, earning their trust and achieving record levels of satisfaction.
The results show that the decrease of BOP, also affected the net income attributable to shareholders which has reached USD 3.8 billion, down by 8% compared to 2019, partially offset by higher levels of realized capital gains. Other published results are:
o Property & Casualty (P&C) claims related to COVID-19, net of reduced claims frequency, unchanged at USD 450 million. Overall COVID-19 impact on Group including life and other business of USD 852 million
o Strong performance in commercial insurance, leaving Group well placed to benefit further from improved prices
- Life business operating profit (BOP) for 2020 was USD 1.4 billion, 7% above the prior-year level.
o Stable proposed dividend of CHF 20 per share
Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer said: "Our results confirm the strength of our business, the agility of our people and the timeliness of our digital strategy. We kept our business fully operational throughout the year and our actions underlined our strong sense of social responsibility. We stayed closer to our customers than ever before, helping them beyond our contractual obligations, including refunds and discounts, waiving exclusions for pandemics, adjusting premiums, suspending cancellations and working with them to change payment plans or providing tenants with partial rent relief." He added: "I am proud of the way we acted in 2020 and the results we achieved, and looking ahead I'm confident in the strength of our business, our strategy and our employees to deliver on our goals."
The business performance is also reflected by the achievements Zurich has made during 2020: the renewal of the company's distribution partnership with Deutsche Bank, the creation of Global Business Platforms to drive innovation, and the Farmers agreement to acquire MetLife's property and casualty business in the U.S., which lays the foundations for further growth.
At the same time, Zurich continued fighting climate change, including through impact investing, new resilience services for commercial customers and the Zurich Forest, a project in Brazil to restore a biodiverse habitat and mobilize employees for climate action.
Source: www.zurich.com
1261 views
