At the April 1, 2021, reinsurance renewals1, SCOR performed strongly, benefiting from the continued improvements in pricing and terms & conditions already seen during the January renewals. SCOR grew its gross premiums up for renewal by 14.3%2 at constant exchange rates3 to EUR 600 million, with a 4.3% overall increase in pricing. The technical profitability of the portfolio benefited from rate-on-rate compounding effects after last year’s price increases. These continued improvements in pricing and terms & conditions are fully in line with the positive outlook set in September 2020 at the Investor Day and already observed in January.
The bulk of the portfolio renewed on April 1 (64%) is in the Asia-Pacific region, of which Japan and India are the most significant markets (each accounting for approximately 28-29% of total premiums up for renewal):
- In Japan, SCOR grew premiums by 3% at constant exchange rates to EUR 156 million, benefiting from significant price increases, while partially redeploying its capacity away from frequency-affected layers. Fully leveraging its deep client relationships and the strength of its position on this market, SCOR benefited from price increases of 12.3% year-on-year on Japanese CAT excess-of-loss programs, accelerating its payback from the 2018 and 2019 typhoon losses.
- Leveraging its Tier 1 position in India as well as positive market conditions in the country, SCOR achieved significant premium growth of +21% at constant exchange rates, reaching EUR 178 million.
In the United States, which represents 16% of the portfolio up for renewal at April 1, SCOR held to its disciplined underwriting approach to deliver a close to stable topline (-1%) of EUR 83 million, having focused its growth on geographies with market conditions deemed more appealing.
To date, SCOR has renewed approximately 78% of its reinsurance treaty portfolio and is well on track to achieve its 2021 growth and technical profitability assumptions, as presented at the September 2020 Investor day. These assumptions include 15% EGPI growth4 at constant exchange rates, 11% gross written premium growth at constant exchange rates, and a normalized combined ratio trending downwards towards 95% and below for the 2021 financial year.
In Specialty Insurance, SCOR continues its development while continuing to benefit fully from a rate-on-rate compounding effect on large industrial and commercial single risks, with rate increases of 16% across all lines of business for the Q1 renewals. The continued market improvements are spread across most lines of business and geographies, with sustained significant rate increases.
Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR Global P&C, comments: “SCOR Global P&C’s successful April 2021 renewals, which are heavily skewed towards Asia-Pacific, confirm the excellent market trends for P&C (re)insurance seen in January, with sizeable technical profitability improvements across regions and lines. These renewals fully confirm the outlook we provided in September 2020 of significant and generalized market hardening trends. We believe that improvements in pricing and terms and conditions on the P&C (re)insurance market will continue for future renewals. In this supportive market environment, SCOR is ideally positioned to seize profitable growth opportunities thanks to the depth of its franchise, its recognized technical expertise, its deep relationships with clients and its ability to meet their needs.”
1. Scope of reinsurance renewals financial information excludes SCOR’s capital provision business at Lloyd’s (“SUL”), and Alternative Solutions. Figures are based on available information as at April 14, 2021
2. Including estimates for ongoing Agriculture renewals (notably in India), which represent EUR 82 million of premiums up for renewal on a worldwide basis
3. Exchange rates at December 31, 2020
4. Estimated Gross Premium Income, Underwriting Year
