CCR Re posts 94.6% CR in H1 as turnover grows 19%

CCR Re reported turnover of €907mn ($971mn) in the first six months of 2023, up 19 percent year on year, which CEO Bertrand Labilloy said reflected the Paris-headquartered reinsurer’s growth at the 1.1 and 1.4 renewals.

The reinsurer reported a first-half combined ratio of 94.6 percent, a 3 percentage point improvement from H1 2022.

CCR Re said the improvement in its combined ratio came despite the effects of the earthquake in Turkey, the Italian floods in May and the violent French storms in June.

The life technical margin was 2.2 percent, slightly down on the first half of 2022, due to a strengthening of reserves.

The results are the first to be published following the completion of CCR Re's acquisition by a mutual consortium consisting of SMABTP and MACSF. The deal formally closed in early July following receipt of all relevant regulatory approvals and valued the previously state-owned firm at close to €1bn.

Under the transaction, the mutual insurers also completed a capital injection of €200mn, fully financed by the consortium, into CCR Re, resulting in a holding of 75 percent of the reinsurer’s capital, with state-backed nat cat reinsurer CCR maintaining a share of 25 percent.

CCR first confirmed in September 2022 that it planned to sell a majority stake in its open market international reinsurer by July 2023, in a move designed to fuel the unit’s ambitious target to become a €2bn GWP business within five years.

It came after The Insurer reported last year that the French Ministry of the Economy – under the leadership of finance minister Bruno Le Maire – and CCR had appointed investment banks Credit Suisse and Messier to run the sale process.

CCR Re – which benefits from a stable A rating from AM Best and S&P – was reorganised into a standalone company in 2016 to write open market reinsurance business, including an international portfolio, and did not benefit from a full government guarantee.

Under the stewardship of CEO Labilloy and deputy CEO Laurent Montador, CCR Re has looked to grow its share of international business amidst hardening market conditions.

Labilloy said: “The results as of June 2023 reflect the quality of our renewals that took place 1st of January and 1st of April.

“They reflect the relevance of our underwriting policy which has remained unchanged. CCR Re continues on its profitable growth path with a 20 percent increase in its capital base,” he continued.