Tryg's core business thrives, boosting dividend despite investment dip

Danish insurer Tryg on Friday reported a higher profit from its core insurance business for the third quarter, but a sharp drop in investment income pulled its overall pretax profit lower.

The company said its insurance service result rose to 2.18 billion Danish kroner from a restated 2.05 billion kroner a year earlier, supported by a 3.4% growth in insurance revenue in local currencies.

The investment result, however, fell to 177 million kroner from 526 million kroner in the same period last year, according to the company.

As a result, pretax profit declined to 1.98 billion kroner from 2.13 billion kroner.

Despite the lower profit, Tryg announced a quarterly dividend of 2.05 kroner per share, an increase of more than 5% from the 1.95 kroner paid a year ago.

"Once again, our results reflect the strength of Tryg’s core business and our focus on building a profitable and resilient business, enabling us to create value for our customers, society and shareholders," said Group CEO Johan Kirstein Brammer.

The company's combined ratio, a key measure of underwriting profitability where a lower figure is better, improved to 78.6% from 79.1%.