French reinsurer Scor tops quarterly estimates on strong main segments #FrenchFinance

(Reuters) – France-based reinsurer Scor’s fourth quarter net profit topped market expectations on Wednesday, driven by solid performances in its main Property & Casualty (P&C) and Life & Health business lines.

Its net income was 233 million euros ($247.8 million) in the final quarter of 2024, well above the average of 195 million euros expected by analysts polled by the company.

“On a full year basis, P&C performance is excellent, the Nat Cat (Natural Catastrophes) ratio is below the 10% budget, and the underlying performance enables us to build significant prudence two years ahead of plan,” CEO Thierry Léger said in a press release.

Reinsurers like Scor provide insurance to other insurance companies, enabling them to protect themselves from losses at events such as natural disasters or large-scale claims.

P&C insurance revenue held steady at close to 2 billion euros in the fourth quarter, despite losses related to Hurricane Milton in the U.S., pushing annual revenue from these activities to 7.64 billion euros, slightly higher than in 2023.

The strong quarterly results allowed Scor to narrowly avoid an annual loss expected by analysts, just a year after the French group boasted record profits. Its net income came in at 4 million euros in 2024.

The reinsurer predicted the impact of California wildfires that ravaged U.S. West Coast in January would be around 140 million euros, in line with its budget set out for natural catastrophes.

Scor also said it would propose an annual dividend of 1.80 euro per share to its shareholders, matching analysts’ expectations.

($1 = 0.9401 euros)

(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega and Jakob Van Calster in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)