Zurich operating profit drops 15%

These included net capital losses for shareholders of $1.1bn (£0.67bn) and catastrophe losses attributable to hurricanes Gustav and Ike of $595m, the company stated.

The group's business operating profit post-tax return on equity continued to remain above its mid-term target of 16%. In the first nine months of the year, business operating profit decreased by 15% to $4.2bn and net income of $2.8bn, a decrease of 32%. It produced an annualised return on equity of 14.5%. General insurance gross