Half Year 2026 Zurich Insurance Group AG Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Record business operating profit of $4.8 billion, up 13%, with core EPS growth of 11.5%.
- Strong growth in strategic areas: P&C premiums up 7%, life protection premiums up 10%, and Farmers exchanges gaining market share for the first time in a decade.
- Excellent combined ratio of 92.7% in P&C, with low nat cat losses at 1.9%.
- Life insurance delivered a record operating profit of $1.3 billion, up 16% like-for-like, leading to raised full-year guidance.
- Farmers achieved its strongest half-year ever with operating profit of $1.2 billion and an industry-leading combined ratio of 82.4%.
- Specialty and middle market growth, particularly in construction and infrastructure, with premiums up 18% in construction, driven by AI-related infrastructure demand.
- Confidence in meeting or exceeding 2027 financial targets, supported by strong momentum and structural growth trends.
- North American property rates remain negative, around -10%, with a slight worsening in Q2.
- Expense ratio increased year-on-year due to business mix and commission impacts, though management expects pure expenses to decline by year-end.
- Accident-year combined ratio in commercial lines worsened by 120 basis points year-on-year, partly due to specific losses in surety and property.
- Prior-year development (PYD) is expected to remain modestly elevated in the near term, which may be seen as a drag on future results.
- Farmers' gross written premium growth of 4% in H1 is below the full-year outlook, with a tail of cancellations from past portfolio cleaning actions.
- The proposed acquisition of Beazley is still pending regulatory approvals, with completion expected in Q4, creating uncertainty.
- Rates in the U.S. are moderating, with property rates negative and workers' comp flat, indicating a competitive market.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Zurich half-year results 2026 conference call. I'm Vicky, the Chorus Call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast.
At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Adrienne Lim, Head of Investor Relations and Rating Agency Management. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Zurich's first-half results call. I have with me our Group CEO, Mario Greco; and our Group CFO, Claudia Cordioli.
As a reminder, we will not be taking any questions on the proposed acquisition of Beazley or comment on its results, given we are still two separate independent companies. (Event Instructions)
Over to you, Mario.
| Access to All Earning Calls and Stock Analysis | |
| 30-Year Financial on one screen | |
| All-in-one Stock Screener with unlimited filters | |
| Customizable Stock Dashboard | |
| Real Time Insider Trading Transactions | |
| 8,000+ Institutional investors’ 13F holdings | |
| Powerful Excel Add-in and Google sheets Add-on | |
| All data downloadable | |
| Quick customer support | |
| And much more... |
Trustpilot
We'd love to learn more about your experiences on GuruFocus.com and how we can improve!
Take Survey
