Swiss Re increases net income to USD 3.2 billion and delivers a 15% ROE for 2024
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 LR
• Property & Casualty Reinsurance (P&C Re) net income of USD 1.2 billion; combined ratio of 89.9%[1]
• Corporate Solutions net income of USD 829 million; combined ratio of 89.7%[2]
• Life & Health Reinsurance (L&H Re) net income of USD 1.5 billion
• Return on investments (ROI) of 4.0%; recurring income yield of 4.0%
• P&C Re increased premium volume by 7.0% in the January 2025 renewals, achieving price increases of 2.8%
• Strong capital position with a Group Swiss Solvency Test (SST) ratio above the target range as of 1 January 2025
• Board of Directors to propose a dividend increase of 8% to USD 7.35 per share at the Annual General Meeting on 11 April 2025
Swiss Re reported a net income of USD 3.2 billion in 2024, with a net income of USD 1.1 billion for the fourth quarter and a return on equity (ROE) of 15.0% for the full year. The Board of Directors will propose a dividend of USD 7.35 per share.
Swiss Re's Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: "Our focus in 2024 was on profitability and resilience. Our results for the period reflect this and show that we are on the right track: we have delivered strong net income and ROE, while achieving our goal of positioning overall P&C reserves at the higher end of our best-estimate range."
Swiss Re's Group Chief Financial Officer John Dacey said: "The strong underlying Business Unit performance is being supported by continued underwriting discipline and recurring investment income. The Group's earnings power, combined with the reserving actions taken in 2024, give us confidence to increase the pay-out to investors by proposing an 8% higher ordinary dividend of USD 7.35 per share."
Group result continues to benefit from disciplined underwriting and recurring investment income
Swiss Re reported an IFRS net income of USD 3.2 billion and an ROE of 15.0% for full-year 2024, compared with an IFRS net income of USD 3.1 billion and an ROE of 16.2% in 2023. The result was driven by disciplined underwriting of new business and investment contributions from all Business Units, partly offset by the strengthening of reserves related to P&C Re's US liability business in the third quarter.
The insurance service result[3], which reflects the profitability of underwriting activity, was USD 4.3 billion, compared with USD 4.7 billion in 2023. Insurance revenue[4] for the Group amounted to USD 45.6 billion, up from USD 43.9 billion in 2023.
Increased recurring investment income
Swiss Re's ROI for the full year increased materially to 4.0% in 2024, up from 3.2% in 2023, driven by a continued contribution from recurring income. The recurring income yield for the period was 4.0%, up from 3.5% in 2023. The reinvestment yield for the fourth quarter was 4.6%.
Strong capital position
Swiss Re's capital position continues to be strong with an estimated Group SST ratio as of 1 January 2025 of 257%[5], above the target range of 200–250%. The reduction compared to the mid-year 2024 Group SST ratio of 284% was primarily driven by reserving actions in the second half of the year, dividend accruals and modest increases in deployed risk capital.
The implementation of the methodology to derive the SST target capital required correction. In the past, the expected change in SST risk-bearing capital (RBC), which is deducted from total risk to derive the target capital, did not factor in the discounting of the expected RBC when implemented. This modification, which results in a reduction of the SST ratio, is reflected in the corrected SST ratios for 2024 and 2023 shown in the Addendum to the Financial Condition Report 2023. The corrected implementation of the methodology will result in a lower interest rate sensitivity.
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