Investing.com — shares rose by 2% on Wednesday after the Danish insurer reported first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations, as strong underwriting offset a sharp drop in investment income.
Tryg earlier reported a 14% fall in first-quarter pre-tax profit to 1.28 billion crowns from 1.49 billion crowns a year earlier, as its investment result fell to 2 million crowns from 320 million in volatile markets. Net profit declined to 958 million crowns from 1.12 billion.
Despite the drop, results beat analyst forecasts, with profit before tax about 13% above consensus and earnings per share roughly 11% ahead.
The upside was driven by stronger underwriting performance. Tryg’s combined ratio, a key measure of profitability where a lower figure is better, improved to 84% from 84.2% a year earlier and came in around 1.3 percentage points better than expected.
The insurer said the improvement was supported by fewer weather-related claims, higher reserve releases and an improved underlying loss ratio, particularly in Norway, where profitability strengthened.
Its insurance service result rose to 1.66 billion crowns from 1.54 billion, beating expectations by about 9%, while the expense ratio was unchanged at 13.3%.
Investment returns remained weak, though slightly ahead of forecasts, reflecting the group’s low-risk investment approach amid market volatility.
Premium revenue grew 3.5% in local currencies, broadly in line with expectations but slower than a year earlier.
Tryg raised its quarterly dividend to 2.15 crowns per share from 2.05 crowns, in line with forecasts. Its solvency ratio stood at 192% at the end of March, above expectations but down from 196% at the end of 2025.
The company said it continued to simplify its IT infrastructure and scale procurement across Scandinavia to reduce claims costs.
“Pending commentary on the call, we’d assume that this to be the new run-rate for FY26e which should see modest earnings revision upside, with consensus currently assuming 30bps. The top-line performance however, while in-line with consensus, remains slightly muted with a growth of 3.5%,” said analysts at Jefferies in a note.