ProtectionAug 11 2016

Zurich Life sees operating profit up 15%

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Zurich Life sees operating profit up 15%

Zurich UK Life’s business operating profit of £63m for the first half of the year was 15 per cent higher than the same period last year.

The insurer claimed this was a strong result, set against a backdrop of continued market volatility and a larger than expected number of corporate claims.

However, annualised premium equivalent of £431m was 7 per cent below the prior year.

Retail platform volumes bounced back after the initial impact of the Brexit vote and the general market volatility, stated Zurich, adding the whole of life product line continued to perform strongly, while group income protection sales were also up.

New business value of £84m was up 32 per cent year-on-year, as both retail and corporate delivered strong growth across protection and savings.

Meanwhile, new business margin of 19.5 per cent was 5.9 basis points above the prior year, reflecting the mix of business sold. “The positive impact of the mix of business has outweighed the lower business volume to give a higher NBM,” the results read.

Anne Torry, the new head of Zurich UK Life, called it a “robust set of results” which gives real cause for optimism.

“Our retail and corporate protection businesses in particular made excellent progress, posting increased sales across retail whole of life and corporate group income protection.

“At the same time, we continue to be there for customers when they need us most, paying out £331.3m so far this year, amounting to 95 per cent of the claims we received.”

In June, Zurich UK Life restructured its teams and doubled the amount of staff managing its accounts in a bid to increase the number of advisers it does business with.

A “partnerships team”, led by former head of retail propositions Peter Hamilton, will support adviser systems, deal with platform queries and broaden the number of panels Zurich products appear on.

Also this summer, the provider updated its critical illness plan, adding three 100 per cent conditions and 20 additional payment conditions. It is now offering additional payments for 22 less advanced cancers, including skin cancer.

peter.walker@ft.com