Polish insurer PZU's profit falls nearly 18% due to flood damages (updated)
21/11/2024 06:47
(Adds details on results and context in paragraphs 3-5)
GDANSK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Poland's top insurer PZU PZU.WA on Thursday
reported a nearly 18% drop in its third-quarter profit due to a high number of
claims for flood-related damages, though it still beat market expectations.
Its net profit fell to 1.22 billion zlotys ($296.9 million) from 1.48
billion last year. Analysts polled by the company were expecting a bigger drop
to 1.09 billion zlotys on average.
Costs of insurance services, which were the main reason behind the
year-on-year decline, rose almost 26% in the same period to 6.8 billion zlotys.
In the first nine months of 2024 they reached 18.8 billion, a nearly 10%
increase from 2023.
This surge was mainly attributed to Poland suffering its most severe floods
in over twenty years in September, which prompted a significant mobilization of
funds for recovery and reconstruction efforts.
From Sept. 12 to Nov. 20, PZU processed more than 48,000 flood damage claims
from customers, issuing decisions in more than 46,000 of them, and paying out
almost 400 million zlotys to the victims.
($1 = 4.1097 zlotys)
(Reporting by Rafal W. Nowak; editing by Milla Nissi)
((RafalWojciech.Nowak@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 66 63;))