Danish insurer Tryg A/S logged third-quarter profit of 599 million kroner, down from 627 million kroner a year earlier.
EPS for the quarter was 1.99 kroner, compared to 2.07 kroner in the prior-year period.
Gross premium income jumped year over year to 5.58 billion kroner from 4.70 billion kroner, while gross claims swelled to 3.79 billion kroner from 3.28 billion kroner.
Tryg reported a technical result of 870 million kroner, up from 761 million kroner a year ago, positively impacted by Alka synergies and lower level of large claims and negatively impacted by higher level of weather claims.
The company booked an investment loss of 29 million kroner, versus investment income of 79 million kroner a year ago. The result was driven by a positive return of 1% on the free portfolio on nearly all asset classes and a loss of 69 million kroner on the match portfolio driven by a high volatility in the quarter at the long end of the interest rate curve.
After-tax return on equity stood at 20.8%, compared to 21.7% in the third quarter of 2018. The combined ratio worsened to 84.4% from 83.8%. The solvency ratio was 169% at the end of the third quarter.
For the first three quarters, Tryg logged a profit of 2.14 billion kroner, up from 1.62 billion kroner in the year-ago period.
Gross premium income came in at 16.26 billion kroner, versus 13.69 billion kroner in the prior year. The combined ratio weakened to 84.8% from 84.1%.
Tryg will pay an ordinary dividend of 1.70 kroner per share Oct. 15, compared to a year-ago ordinary dividend of 1.65 kroner per share.
For 2020, the company is targeting a technical result of 3.3 billion kroner, a combined ratio of roughly 86%, an expense ratio of about 14% and return on equity of approximately 21%.
As of Oct. 9, US$1 was equivalent to 6.80 Danish kroner.
