Zurich Insurance plc (ZIP), Zurich Financial Services Group's (Zurich) Dublin-based general insurance risk carrier for its EU business, have announced a solid operating performance for 2009.
ZIP reported an operating profit of €220m for the year ended December 31, 2009 - an increase of €154m on same period for the prior year.
Markus Hongler, CEO of Zurich Insurance plc, said: “Despite a competitive market environment particularly in Western Europe, Zurich’s ZIP business was able to maintain strong levels of business performance. We are confident that our streamlined European structure will help to support our business for any market conditions.”
Ireland was selected to be the domicile for Zurich’s general insurance risk carrier as it already had an existing infrastructure as well as a branch network established for its European Global Corporate business.
Zurich considered a number of options and Ireland best met its requirements because of its long-standing membership in the EU and its Euro currency, its highly developed insurance market, as well as its English-speaking post-graduate workforce.
Zurich sees Ireland as the leading centre for its business activities across Europe.
