Global reinsurance firm Swiss Re has reported a lower than anticipated level of losses from the Los Angeles, California wildfires in the first-quarter of the year, helping its P&C Re divisions combined ratio beat analyst consensus, while the company has also reported continued premium growth at the April renewals.Previously, .At the time, some analyst reports suggested that might be optimistic, but in reporting its Q1 2025 results today Swiss Re has come in below that projection, for its claims from the catastrophic wildfire event.For Q1 2025, Swiss Re has reported $570 million of large catastrophe claims for Q1 within its property and casualty reinsurance division, which it said mainly related to the Los Angeles wildfires.

In addition the P&C Re division also experienced $140 million of large man-made losses in the quarter.There are some additional catastrophe claims from the wildfires in the Corporate Solutions division, but with Swiss Re reporting that its nat cat losses in the commercial insurance arm were $60 million and mainly from the wildfires and Tropical Cyclone Alfred, those aren’t significant enough to get close to the projection.It’s safe to assume that Swiss Re will have shared some of the wildfire losses with investors in its range of insurance-linked securities (ILS) sidecars and funds that share risk returns and losses with the reinsurer in a proportional manner.

How much is impossible to say.But those backing such structures may be pleased to see the overall wildfire loss for the company coming in lower than its projections.Some retrocessional reinsurance support may also have been received for the major losses in the quarter, but Swiss Re does not report that.

Swiss Re reported first-quarter net income of $1.3 billion today, above analyst consensus, alongside a return on equity (ROE) of 22.4% for the period.Strong underlying performance across the Swiss Re business helped to offset the large claims and led the reinsurer to a beat on many fronts.Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger commented, “The first quarter of 2025 was marked by significant large loss events in our property and casualty businesses.

Despite this, all Business Units posted robust results, highlighting the resilience of the Group and underscoring our ability to support clients by acting as a shock absorber for peak risks.” Swiss Re’s Group Chief Financial Officer Anders Malmström added, “The main driver for Swiss Re’s first-quarter results was continued disciplined underwriting, which was supported by our investment performance.We have maintained our strong capital position and remain well-placed to support our clients.” The P&C Re unit delivered $527 million of net income, slightly down on the prior year quarter, but even with 29% of the large loss budget used by the major natural catastrophes and man-made losses in the period, a combined ratio of 86% still beat analyst consensus.At the April reinsurance renewals, Swiss Re’s outcome appears positive.

The company reported that its P&C Re division renewed $2.2 billion of premium volume, a 2.8% increase over the business that was actually up for renewal.The company reported price increases of 1.5% across the renewal book for April, although did say that loss assumptions rose by 3.7% as well, resulting in a net price change of -2.7%.It means that, year-to-date, Swiss Re’s renewal experience (across January and April) is price increases of 2.6%, with higher loss assumptions of 4%, for a net price change of around -1.5%.

But with an almost 6% premium volume increase growth continues for the reinsurer, and it still believes a combined ratio of less than 85% is achievable for P&C Re this year.Property business has continued to be the main driver, with premiums growing 24%, while pure nat cat business was flat in premium growth terms as higher rates offset higher exposures in the business renewed, Swiss Re explained.CEO Berger concluded on the period, “With a turbulent start to the year, we remain vigilant and focused on maintaining our strong foundations.

Thanks to the decisive actions we took in 2024, all our businesses are well-positioned and have delivered a robust performance in the first quarter.Alongside our continued focus on cost discipline and efficiency, this gives us confidence in our 2025 targets despite a challenging environment.”.All of our Artemis Live insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance can be accessed online.

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