Swiss Re wows investors with third quarter profits

SWISS Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer, saw its stocks rise the most in over three months yesterday, after it beat analyst expectations in its third-quarter profit.Net income hit SFr334m (£199m) as property and casual earnings were boosted by fewer catastrophe claims. In its previous year, the Zurich-based company made a SFr304m loss, and analysts had expected SFr51m in losses this time. The group upped its surplus capital to over SFr6bn in a bid to get its AA credit rating back and repay SFr3bn which tycoon Warren Buffett injected into the group in February. It underwent a restructuring earlier this year, replacing chief executive Jacques Aigrain and abandoning the strategy of improving profit by trading securities like credit-default swaps. “Swiss Re is a restructuring story and it continues to go very smoothly,” Helvea analyst Tim Dawson said.