Nordic insurer Tryg posts record Q4 as insecurity boosts demand

Tryg A/S

26/01/2023 10:15

COPENHAGEN, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Scandinavia's largest
insurer Tryg  TRYG.CO  on Thursday posted record fourth quarter
profits as more customers sought security amid economic and
political uncertainty, its chief executive said.
    Tryg saw an increase in both private and corporate customers
even as it raised prices to compensate for higher inflation and
as demand for car insurance - traditionally its biggest product
- plummeted.
    "My sense is that at a time when the world has become more
insecure, customers turn to companies like ours to help create a
sense of security," CEO Morten Hubbe told Reuters in an
interview.
    "When you see energy bills rising and unrest in the world,
you become more aware of what is close to you and seek to secure
your house, your family, your children, your animals and your
valuables," he said.
    With 5.3 million customers, Tryg is the biggest insurer in
Denmark and the third- and fourth-largest in Sweden and Norway,
respectively.
    Adding to the sense of insecurity, the number of burglaries,
which had fallen during the coronavirus lockdowns, started to
rise around August last year to a level above that of 2019
before the pandemic, Hubbe said.
    Tryg posted a fourth-quarter technical result - a measure of
profits in the core business, excluding investments - of 1.69
billion Danish crowns ($248 million), slightly above analyst
estimates and up 22% on a year earlier.
    It also posted a record high profit for the full year, up
66% at 6.18 billion crowns. The company expects positive topline
growth in 2023. 
    Tryg shares were up 1.0% at 1013 GMT.
    ($1 = 6.8183 Danish crowns)
 (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)