Zurich operating profit drops 15%

Zurich Financial Services has said all its core business areas are delivering solid operating performances despite the impact of "particularly adverse circumstances" in the third quarter.

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