Swiss Life surprises with profit jump
Switzerland's largest life insurer, Swiss Life, surprised the markets on Wednesday with a first half profit increase of 61 per cent over the previous year to SFr372 million ($215 million).
Gross premium income grew by 18 per cent to SFr11 billion.
Analysts had expected earnings to rise by around 46 per cent. Swiss Life cited capital investments, operational improvements and successful acquisitions as reasons for the performance.
Rene Locher at Bank Sarasin said the numbers were very good, although he added there had been a large contribution to premium income from acquisitions, especially from Swiss Life’s majority stake in Erisa of France.
The company’s management had been under pressure recently following speculation of a foreign takeover and it is not clear whether the takeover rumours will now fade away.
“The figures are good,” says Locher, “but the markets want to see somebody make a good offer for Swiss Life.”
Most analysts do not expect the results to have a significant effect on the share price of Swiss Life, as many regard the stock as over-bought.
swissinfo with agencies
More
How retiring baby boomers could crash Swiss property market
More
Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities
More
The world’s strongest currency is also super-competitive
More
The Russia affair in the Swiss secret service: ‘This is espionage’
More
Swiss food labels must declare animal suffering from July
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.