Swiss Re Reports Net Income of $472M for 2022, Targets More Than $3 Billion for 2023

Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 472 million for 2022, with a net income of USD 757 million in the fourth quarter. Based on Swiss Re's very strong capital position, the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of USD 6.40 per share.

For 2023, the Group targets a net income of more than USD 3 billion, supported by successful P&C Re renewals, an expected decline in COVID-19 claims, higher interest rates and cost discipline.

Swiss Re's Group Chief Executive Officer Christian Mumenthaler said: "2022 was a challenging year, marked by the war in Ukraine, surging inflation, the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic and elevated natural catastrophe losses. We have focused on addressing these challenges proactively, all while maintaining our very strong capital position. This has enabled us to take advantage of attractive market conditions at the January renewals, while continuing our commitment to the ordinary dividend."

Swiss Re's Group Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said: "Throughout the year, Swiss Re took measures to add USD 1.1 billion in reserves1 to address the risk of higher claims due to economic inflation across our property and casualty businesses. Higher interest rates are already helping to compensate for this impact, with the contribution from our fixed-income portfolio rising by USD 170 million in the fourth quarter compared with the prior-year period. After absorbing a significant impact from COVID-19 in the early part of 2022, L&H Re has returned to attractive levels of profitability. Corporate Solutions continued to deliver resilient results and outperformed its full-year target. We are pleased to end the year with a solid fourth-quarter result that was driven by strong operational performance from our main businesses."

Solid fourth-quarter performance supports Group result

Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 472 million and a return on equity (ROE) of 2.6% for the full-year 2022, supported by a net income of USD 757 million in the fourth quarter. This compares with a net income of USD 1.4 billion and an ROE of 5.7% for 2021. The decline was driven by the impact of economic inflation on actual and expected claims in the property and casualty businesses, mark-to-market impacts on listed equity investments and large natural catastrophe claims above expectations.

Net premiums earned and fee income for the Group rose 0.9% to USD 43.1 billion in 2022 compared with the previous year. Growth was negatively affected by adverse foreign exchange developments, while at stable foreign exchange rates, the increase amounted to 5.3%.

Very strong capital position and rising recurring investment income

Swiss Re's ROI decreased to 2.0% from 3.2%, impacted by the decline in global equity markets and the associated mark-to-market adjustments. The recurring income yield increased to 2.6% for 2022 from 2.2% for 2021, benefitting from targeted reinvestments in the rising interest rate environment. In the fourth quarter, the recurring income yield rose to 3.0%, while the fixed income reinvestment yield reached 5.1%.

Swiss Re's capital position remained very strong, with the Group Swiss Solvency Test (SST) ratio above the 200–250% target range as of 1 January 2023.

P&C Re result supported by strong fourth-quarter net income

P&C Re reported a net income of USD 312 million for 2022, supported by a strong fourth-quarter net income of USD 595 million. The full-year result was negatively impacted by higher-than-expected economic inflation, for which Swiss Re set up reserves of USD 1.0 billion1.

Large natural catastrophe claims were above expectations at USD 2.7 billion2, mainly from Hurricane Ian, floods in Australia and South Africa, hailstorms in France, winter storms in Europe and the US as well as a series of other smaller events. Net premiums earned increased slightly to USD 22.0 billion, supported by continued price improvements over the year. Calculated at stable foreign exchange rates, the increase of net premiums earned amounted to 4.1%.

The reported P&C Re combined ratio was 91.0% in the fourth quarter and 102.4% for the full year. The normalised3 combined ratio for 2022 was 96.9%, above the target of less than 94%, mostly due to the impacts of economic inflation.

January P&C Re renewals reflect elevated risk environment

P&C Re renewed treaty contracts with USD 10.2 billion in premium volume on 1 January 2023. This represents a 13% volume increase compared with the business that was up for renewal. Healthy growth of 21% was achieved in the natural catastrophe book.

Overall, P&C Re achieved a price increase of 18% in this renewal round, with improved rates in all lines of business. This more than offset higher loss assumptions of 13%, which reflect a prudent view on economic inflation and loss model updates.

L&H Re exceeds full-year net income target

L&H Re reported a net income of USD 416 million for 2022, compared with a net loss of USD 478 million in the previous year. L&H Re's fourth-quarter net income reached USD 0.2 billion for the third consecutive quarter, thereby ensuring that the full-year net income target of approximately USD 300 million could be exceeded. COVID-19-related claims decreased to USD 588 million in 2022 from almost USD 2 billion in 2021.

Net premiums earned and fee income for 2022 were largely unchanged at USD 15.0 billion, compared with the prior year. Calculated at stable foreign exchange rates, net premiums earned increased by 5.1%.

Corporate Solutions delivers resilient results, outperforming combined ratio target

Corporate Solutions reported a net income of USD 486 million for 2022. The resilient result reflects a robust underlying business performance and strong new business growth in selected focus portfolios. The result was impacted by elevated large man-made loss activity including impacts related to the war in Ukraine and significantly less favourable prior-year developments. The Business Unit improved its resilience to future claims inflation, with USD 0.1 billion in additional reserves1.

Net premiums earned increased 2.6% to USD 5.5 billion, driven by new business growth in selected focus portfolios along with the continuous earn-through of previously realised rate increases. At stable foreign exchange rates and excluding the elipsLife business sold mid-year, net premiums earned increased 14.8%.

Corporate Solutions' combined ratio was 93.1% for the full year, outperforming the target of less than 95% for 2022.

iptiQ continues its growth trajectory

iptiQ continued to successfully grow its business in 2022, increasing its in-force policies to more than 2.1 million from 1.6 million in the prior-year period. Gross premiums written increased by 17.7% from the previous year to USD 851 million, with contributions across all regions. At stable foreign exchange rates, growth of 27.8% was achieved.

Financial targets and outlook

For 2023, the Group targets a net income of more than USD 3 billion, supported by attractive market conditions, an expected decline in COVID-19 claims, higher interest rates and cost discipline. Swiss Re aims to maintain its very strong capitalisation in 2023, with a Group SST ratio materially above the target range, given the level of geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. The Group also confirms its multi-year targets of 10% annual growth in economic net worth per share and 14% return on equity4 in 2024.

P&C Re will move away from its normalisation approach to target a reported combined ratio of less than 95% for 2023; L&H Re will aim for a net income of approximately USD 900 million; and Corporate Solutions will target a reported combined ratio of less than 94%.

Swiss Re's Group Chief Executive Officer Christian Mumenthaler said: "2023 has started well, with successful January renewals reflecting our ambition to drive profitability and create value for shareholders, while continuing to support clients. Our investment portfolio is well-positioned to benefit from rising interest rates, and we do not expect a return of high COVID-19 claims that we had seen over the past years. Despite the uncertain macroeconomic environment, we are confident in the Group's ability to deliver on the new ambitious targets."

¹ This includes prior-year and current-year reserves in the form of IBNRs.
² Net of reinstatement premiums of USD 0.2 billion.
³ Normalised combined ratio assumes average large natural catastrophe loss burden and excludes prior-year reserve development.
⁴ US GAAP ROE target announced in February 2022, which was based on an expected shareholders’ equity higher than the year-end 2021 amount of USD 23.6 billion.
⁵ Comparative information for 2021 has been revised to reflect the reallocation of part of Principal Investments, Admin Re US as well as certain cross-segmental loans from Group items to Reinsurance.