Net income declined to $739 million from $840 million a year earlier, Zurich said in a statement on Thursday.
Advertisement
The insurer said that the 22 percent fall in first-half net income was due to “a lower level of realized capital gains, restructuring charges related to the group’s turnaround plans and a higher effective tax rate”. Analysts had expected net profit of $673 million.
“We have made significant progress over the last six months, with consistent improvement in our underlying performance in the second quarter in the context of an ongoing challenging market environment”, Greco said in the statement. In his new role he will report to Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Insurance Group, the company said in a release.
The company said its total return on investments in the second quarter was 2%, compared with a negative return of 2.5% in the same quarter a year ago.
Mr. Greco, who earlier had been a Zurich Insurance executive, has pledged to restore “the credibility of the company”. “Allow me to take my time”, Mr. Greco said.
The appointment was announced on the same day that Zurich reported that its net income attributable to shareholders (NIAS) for the first six months of 2016 had fallen 22% over the same period a year ago to $1.6bn (£1.2bn, €1.4bn). Zurich’s problems were concentrated at its general insurance unit, which reported a 3% increase in operating profit in the first half to $1.2 billion.
Advertisement
Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Zurich Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, June 13th. A ratio of less than 100% means that an insurance company’s underwriting business is profitable.
