Zurich Insurance Group and its Irish operation Zurich Life Ireland will publish their half-year results this Thursday.

Last month, Zurich Insurance Group said claims from floods in Central and Eastern Europe in May and June and two tornadoes in the US could reach $278 million. The estimates, which are net of reinsurance and before tax, will be recorded in the company’s half-year results this week.

Switzerland's biggest insurer said it expects losses in the region of $140 million related to extensive flood damage in Europe, and losses of approximately $138 million for both its North America and Farmers Re businesses as a result of the tornadoes which hit Oklahoma.

Challenging environment
The company has already reported a 7 per cent decline in profit for the first quarter of this year, citing a "challenging economic environment" that ate into investment returns.

However, it pointed to a strong performance across insurance lines, saying it remains on track to meet its targets.

Zurich posted a net profit of $1.06 billion (€1.3 billion) for the first three months of the year, missing analysts’ average forecasts in a Reuters poll for $1.137 billion. The company also saw a decline of nearly $200 million in investment income in the first quarter to $1.573 billion, compared with the same quarter last year.

Zurich Life Ireland posted a fall in new business during the first half of last year, with margins under pressure as a result of challenging market conditions.

The company said its new business annual premium equivalent (APE) was down 22 per cent to €65.8 million from €83.8 million the same time last year.