Zurich (awp) – Swiss Re shares started trading significantly lower on Friday. The reinsurer exceeded its own profit forecast last year thanks to a low claims burden in the final quarter and significantly increased its dividend. However, some analysts had hoped for an even better performance.
At around 9:35 a.m., Swiss Re lost 1.5 percent to 102.05 francs after the shares had fallen to 100 francs at the start of trading. The leading index SMI is now trading little changed at +0.1 percent. At Swiss Re, traders point to the good price development in the current and last year and see profit-taking as a reason for the current charges.
Swiss Re ended 2023 with premium income and a dividend proposal above expectations. On the other hand, the profit was slightly lower than consensus estimates, although developments in liability reinsurance were criticized. Analysts rate the new business and the turnaround at the former problem child CorSo as positive.
Overall, Swiss Re’s profitability has developed favorably as expected, says Georg Marti from ZKB. The investment result was also good and the reinsurer’s balance sheet situation remains very solid.
According to Vontobel analyst Simon Fössmeier, Swiss Re’s results last year were only in line with expectations, but were still pleasing and reassuring at the same time. Fössmeier therefore feels confirmed in his purchase recommendation.
JPMorgan also says that the profit development can be seen as a success after the difficult years between 2017 and 2022, including the Covid pandemic. However, analyst Kamran Hossain is somewhat concerned about the significant increase in reserves in US liability reinsurance in the final quarter. Swiss Re expects higher claims volumes in the future.
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