Reinsurers Swiss Re tripled its income in 2011 despite having to pay out billions of dollars in compensation for an unusually high number of natural disasters.
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The company reported on Thursday that its net income for the full year was $2.6 billion (SFr2.4 billion), well above what experts had forecast, compared with $863 million in 2010.
“With a successful year behind us and a modest but broad market turn underway, Swiss Re is well positioned to perform and grow in a low-yield environment,” said the group CEO Michel M Liès on the Swiss Re website.
The company said its property and casualty section had been affected by “the exceptional accumulation of natural catastrophe events that occurred in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States during the year”, and the operating result here declined by 48 per cent.
It said that while it would remain focused on traditional markets, it would also attempt to capitalise on the potential new markets in Asia and South America.
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