Swiss Re H1 net income hit by manmade losses

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions recorded a 2.5% fall in net income to $430 million in the first six months of 2025 as “elevated” large manmade losses cost the unit $193 million alongside a $60 million bill from nat cats in the period.

But Swiss Re Corporate Solutions saw a slight improvement on its H1 combined ratio, down from 88.7% last year to 88.2% and on target to come in below 91% for full year. Its insurance service result remained steady at $515 million.

The unit’s revenue was down slightly, by 1.3%, to $3.75 billion but on publishing group results Swiss Re said “stringent portfolio steering and focused growth” largely made up for the nonrenewal of Irish Medex business, which reduced the unit’s revenue by $200 million in the first half of 2025.

At group level, Swiss Re reported a 24.2% gain in net income to $2.61 billion in the first half of 2025, driven largely by its property and casualty reinsurance unit, where net income increased by 23.3% to $1.22 billion, and a higher investment result. Swiss Re said June and July P&C renewals recorded price increases averaging 2.3% as it renewed $4.5 billion of treaty premium volume, down 5.9% as it continued to trim casualty lines.

Group CEO Andreas Berger said the first half result was “strong… while supporting our clients through peak risks, particularly in the first quarter.” Swiss Re’s P&C reinsurance line incurred nat cat losses of $556 million in the first six months of the year, mainly related to the Los Angeles wildfires, while large man-made losses totaled $213 million.

The group’s insurance service result improved to $3 billion from $2.86 billion in H1 2024 while revenue dipped 5.7% to $20.95 billion, with all units reporting lower revenue led by P&C with a decrease of 7.7% to $8.92 billion after “pruning actions” in casualty.

Swiss Re’s CFO Anders Malmström said the group was particularly pleased with new business contractual service margins, up slightly to $3.1 billion, despite a more challenging P&C pricing environment, while Swiss Re Corporate Solutions achieved a CSM of $262 million, up from $223 million in H1 2024.

Commercial Risk Europe is a sister publication of Business Insurance. More stories from CRE here.