Tryg A/S posted second-quarter results that beat market expectations as investment returns helped counterbalance a provision booked after a court ruling. The insurer said the combination of higher-than-expected investment income and resilient operational metrics underpinned its quarterly outturn.
Profit after tax for the quarter was 874 million Danish crowns, compared with 1.53 billion crowns in the same period a year earlier, and above the median analyst forecast of 722 million crowns. Net investment income reached 262 million crowns, significantly ahead of the 130 million-crown consensus estimate, which the company highlighted as evidence of "the strength of Tryg’s low-risk investment approach in volatile markets."
On a pre-tax basis, profit was 1.08 billion crowns, exceeding the consensus forecast of 939 million crowns but down from 2.04 billion crowns a year earlier. The company’s reported insurance service result fell to 1.19 billion crowns, from 2.31 billion crowns a year earlier, after Tryg recognised a provision related to a Danish Supreme Court ruling on workers’ compensation dated April 28. Tryg said that charge was fully recognised in its second-quarter accounts and that the insurance service result figure was in line with analyst expectations.
Excluding the provision tied to the Supreme Court ruling, Tryg’s insurance service result improved about 4% year on year to 2.39 billion crowns. On the same adjusted basis, the combined ratio - a key underwriting profitability measure where lower is better - edged up slightly to 77.4% from 77.2% a year earlier. The reported combined ratio was 88.8%, matching the consensus estimate.
Operationally, the underlying claims ratio improved by 50 basis points in the quarter, compared with a 40-basis-point improvement recorded in the first quarter, with the company citing particularly strong performance in Norway. Insurance revenue rose 3.3% in local currencies, and the expense ratio improved to 13.3%, marginally better than the 13.4% consensus forecast.
Tryg’s solvency ratio strengthened to 196% at the end of the quarter, up from 192% at the end of the first quarter, and above analysts’ expectations of 192%. The board proposed an ordinary dividend of 2.15 crowns per share, up from 2.05 crowns a year earlier.
Chief Executive Johan Kirstein Brammer said the insurer continued to build momentum across customer and commercial metrics in the second quarter. "Tryg continued to build strong customer and commercial momentum in the second quarter," he said. "Customer satisfaction increased for the third consecutive quarter while sales and retention improved in all markets."
Tryg reported it handled nearly one million claims across Scandinavia in the first half of the year, including almost 5,000 claims related to Storm Dave. The company’s customer satisfaction score rose to 83 from a 2024 baseline of 81.
The quarter shows investment income can materially influence reported profitability when underwriting is affected by one-off legal provisions, while underlying operating trends such as claims ratios, revenue growth and expense control remained constructive.