Gjensidige Forsikring on Wednesday reported first-quarter results that outperformed analyst expectations by 8% for earnings, underpinned by improved underwriting performance and a stronger underlying loss ratio.
The insurer’s insurance service result exceeded forecasts by 21.9%. The underlying frequency loss ratio was 0.6 percentage points better than anticipated, while large losses were 51.3% lower than expected. Investment returns also notably outpaced projections, beating forecasts by 173.8%.
Insurance revenue for the quarter edged past projections by 0.1%. Segment-level performance was uneven: the private segment exceeded expectations by 4.4% and the commercial segment beat forecasts by 6.1%, but the Sweden segment fell short by 17.6%.
Top-line momentum remained strong, with revenue growth of 10.6% year-on-year for the quarter. The company reported a solvency ratio of 195%, which came in 4 percentage points higher than forecasted.
On the cost front, corporate centre costs were NOK 94.1m, substantially below the NOK 234m that had been forecast. The cost ratio was in line with expectations, and the loss ratio was 3.7 percentage points better than anticipated.
There were notable downside items that weighed on the quarter. The pension result recorded a loss of NOK 298m, missing the expected NOK 47m, a shortfall attributed to a recalculation of reserves. Run-off gains were 24.9% lower than forecasted.
Profitability metrics also exceeded forecasts: profit before tax beat estimates by 9.8%, and profit after tax topped expectations by 7.6%.
These results point to underwriting and investment-strength contributors driving the outperformance, while reserve adjustments and regional shortfalls presented headwinds during the quarter.