Hong Kong:
Despite the headwinds of a pandemic and an economic recession, Hong Kong-based global reinsurer Peak Re has seen its net profit rising by almost 150 per cent year on year(Y-o-Y) to USD87.1 million, from USD 34.9 million in 2019.
The company's reported gross written premiums in 2020 rose to USD1,966 million, up from USD1,665 million in 2019.
It ended the year with a combined ratio of 97.6%,
The company remained steadfast in its deep client partnership approach, and has successfully built a robust business portfolio that is increasingly diversified across clients, business lines and geographies.
Peak Re reported stable revenue growth in Asia Pacific and strong performance in the Americas and EMEA.
In 2020, 61% of the company’s revenue (based on gross written premium) was generated from Asia Pacific, 29% from the Americas, and 10% from EMEA, representing an increase of 5.4%, 52.4% and 30.9% respectively when compared to 2019.
“While the events of 2020 have stress tested the reinsurance industry, for Peak Re, it was both a remarkable and successful year. Our resilience and agility enabled us to achieve key milestones and deliver another year of strong results.” said Franz Josef Hahn, Chief Executive Officer of Peak Re.
He further explained that the company reported stable growth in China, and strong and successful renewals in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In the Americasin 2020.,
“Our Casualty, Motor and Credit & Bonds businesses were the main growth drivers. In Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”), growth was led by Property, Motor and Casualty and partly offset by declines in Credit, Engineering, Aviation and Marine.Our portfolio optimisation initiatives also delivered results in 2020, leading to reduced exposure for our Agriculture and Engineering businesses, while in Asia and the US our success in optimising our portfolio and opening new businesses enabled us to increase premiums for our Motor business. We have also reshaped our portfolio to considerably grow our non-proportional treaty businesses to drive profitability,'' he added..
On outlook for 2021, LI Tao,chairman, Peak Re said, We expect 2021 to see a rebound in economic growth that will extend into 2022. With the recovery already underway in Asia, we are looking to our Asia Pacific region to continue to outperform other regions and be the growth driver for the broader economy, as well as the insurance industry. This presents significant room for us to further grow in emerging markets where economies are still expanding.As businesses learn to adapt to another “new normal”, the effects of COVID-19 will continue to filter through and impact the future risk landscape.''
The reinsurer has maintained a six-year track record of over 90% of claims settled within five days
It is ranked 29th in S&P Global Rating’s Top 40 Global Reinsurance Groups 2020 in terms of net reinsurance premiums written and operates from Hong Kong,Switzerland, Japan and Bermuda, It supportd 586 corporate clients across 68 markets.