SCOR 1H Net up 77% to $247 Million

France’s SCOR Group posted impressive gains for the first half of 2007, with net income after tax of €181 million ($247 million), a 77 percent increase over the same period last year. Gross premiums written for the period were €2.124 billion ($2.9 Billion), a 55 percent gain.

Other earnings highlights included the following:
– Non-Life gross written premiums: €943 million ($1.287 billion), up12 percent
– Life gross written premiums: €1.181 billion ($1.61 billion), up 124 percent
– Operating income: €255 million ($348 million), up 36 percent
– Shareholders’ equity at 30 June 2007: €2.644 billion ($3.61 billion), up 17 percent compared to 31 December 2006 and 58 percent compared to 30 June 2006
– Annualized return on weighted average equity (ROE): 15.4 percent, up from12.3 percent
– Net income per share: €1.49 ($2.03), up 39 percent
– Net book value per share: €19.83 ($27.07), up 14 percent
– Net combined ratio for Non-Life reinsurance: 98.8 percent (98.2 percent in 1H 2006)
– Margin on net earned premiums for Life reinsurance: 7.4 percent (7.2 percent 1H 2006)
– Investment income: €364 million ($497 million), up 52 percent
– Annualized net return on invested assets (ROI): 5.0 percent (4.9 percent 1H 2006)

SCOR CEO Denis Kessler commented: “The SCOR Group has seen a sharp increase in its business during the First Half of 2007, due to the successful integration of Revios and the strong mobilization of the underwriting teams in both Life and Non-Life reinsurance. The highly satisfactory renewals at 1 April and 1 July confirm this dynamism. The results are increasing very sharply, with each centre of activity – SCOR Global P&C, SCOR Global Life and Asset Management – making a major and growing contribution. The return of the Group’s US entity to profitability in property and casualty reinsurance is demonstrated by the very limited reactivation of tax credits, which bears witness to the success of SCOR’s repositioning across the Atlantic.

“Since 1 January 2007, SCOR has been successfully working on the acquisition of Converium, whose full integration is currently underway. The new combined Group’s 2008 underwriting plan is ready. A new three-year plan, called Dynamic Lift, has been drawn up in order to set out a number of objectives, notably including profitability, which the Group has set itself for the coming years, and in order to indicate the ways and means it will use to achieve these.

“The Group dynamics are positive: it is expanding its franchise, it is highly disciplined in its underwriting, it is prudently managing its assets, it is following an acquisition policy that strictly adheres to its strategic objectives and it now has a wider pool of skills and expertise.”

The full report and additional information may be obtained on the Group’s web site at: www.scor.com .

Source: SCOR

Topics Reinsurance