Zurich Insurance Q1 profits below forecasts

Zurich Insurance Group referred its profit fell from a year earlier in the first quarter, but added that an improved economic outlook could help the company's prospects for the rest of the year.

The Swiss insurer said net income fell to $607 million in the first quarter from $875 million a year earlier. A more than 3 percent change to Britain's Ogden rate, a tool for calculating personal injury and accident claims, dampened Zurich's core property and casualty business in the first three months of 2017.

Zurich Insurance is in the midst of a restructuring under chief executive Mario Greco, who joined last year from Italy’s Generali. His plans include $1.5bn in cost cuts by 2019 and other steps to boost profitability.

"Underwriting performance is improving and we have delivered another absolute reduction in expenses," said Chief Financial Officer George Quinn. "The stronger economic environment is also delivering a better than expected investment performance and, given the cautious position that we took last year, could positively influence the rest of this year," he added.
"The result today was a mixed bag, but we expect a slight positive reaction from the market," Bernstein analysts said in a note. "There was a small beat on the operating result, a miss on net income and a large beat on capital."