Baloise successfully expands ‘insurbanking’ in Switzerland in 2024

Basel, 25 March 2025. Last year was a good year for Baloise in Switzerland. The recently unveiled refocusing strategy has been successfully launched and has already enhanced operations. Thanks to an improved claims environment, the combined ratio has fallen by 6.7 percentage points. This reduction was also attributable to an improvement in the expense ratio. Profit before borrowing costs and taxes (EBIT) was more than doubled to CHF 358.5 million thanks to higher contributions from non-life business. Cash remittance in the insurance business amounted to a very healthy CHF 318 million. We also notched up growth of 1.1 per cent in the non-life business, led by property and liability insurance. Thanks to a consistent focus on Switzerland’s only insurbanking offering, Baloise’s banking business generated a sales volume of more than CHF 1 billion in a single year for the first time and a high reinvestment rate once again of around 30 per cent.

Baloise Switzerland’s financial results for 2024

Insurance*

“Although we had to deal with a high level of claims due to storms in the first half of 2024, we managed to significantly enhance the quality of our non-life portfolio – most notably in the motor vehicle, property, accident, and health insurance businesses – while also cutting costs. Our attractive non-life business also recorded growth. In liability insurance, we maintained our good level of business. We also further expanded our business model, which comprises a combination of insurance and banking services and is unique in Switzerland. We achieved strong growth in Banking, with the combined advisory approach of our sales organization playing a key role in this. All in all, we got off to a good start with the implementation of our refocusing strategy,” says Clemens Markstein, CEO of Baloise in Switzerland.

• The combined ratio fell by an encouraging 6.7 percentage points year on year to 92.5 per cent as a result of adjustments to prices and coverage. The claims environment has improved compared with 2023, but large claims were disproportionately high, especially those in connection with the storm event at the end of June, and weighed on profitability. The expense ratio improved to 23.0 per cent (2023: 23.5 per cent).
   
• The premium volume in the non-life business recorded a healthy year-on-year increase of 1.1 per cent to CHF 1,485.6 million.
   
• The life business stepped up its contribution to overall profitability despite a fall in the volume of (single) premiums in the individual life business and, in particular, in the traditional group life business. The decline of 10.5 per cent in premiums is in line with the market trend towards semi-autonomous solutions. The Perspectiva collective foundation continued to report unbridled growth in 2024. Thanks to huge demand for semi-autonomous pension solutions, the number of companies signing up rose to 5,186 (2023: 4,903) with some 22,750 policyholders, while assets under management increased by 20percent to CHF1.9billion (2023: CHF1.6billion). The foundation’s return on investment stood at 9.2percent.

Banking**

“Our strong profit for the period is the solid foundation on which we will continue our business in the years to come. Our focus is on achieving the targets we have set ourselves, boosting our efficiency further and significantly improving the cost/income ratio. I have no doubt that we have set the right course with our refocusing strategy to meet this ambitious remit,” comments Thomas Schöb, who became CEO of Baloise Bank Ltd as at 1 January 2025.

• Increased profit for the period
  Baloise Bank Ltd increased its profit to CHF 33.4 million in 2024 (2023: CHF 31.2 million) despite lower net interest income. This equated to a year-on-year increase of 7.1 per cent.
   
• Strong growth in sales volume
  At CHF 1,022.0 million, Banking generated a sales volume of over CHF 1 billion for the first time in a single year (2023: CHF 486.0 million). The sales volume comprises the net growth in lending business assets, particularly mortgages, net growth in client assets and the inflow of new funds from asset management mandates adjusted for performance factors.
   
• Consistently high reinvestment rate
  Thanks to its combined business model, Baloise maintained a reinvestment rate for expiring life insurance policies of around 30 per cent, which stands it in good stead compared with the competition. This demonstrates that we create tangible added value for our customers with our insurbanking model.

Summary of business performance for the Swiss market

Baloise’s business performance in Switzerland

*   * All figures in accordance with IFRS accounting.

** All figures in accordance with local accounting standards.

Ambitions for 2025 and highlights from 2024

Successful launch of the refocusing strategy

The refocusing strategy has been successfully launched. Between now and 2027, we want to bring our combined ratio to below 90 per cent in order to further boost our profitability. Of the 250 job cuts planned across the Group, roughly half relate to Switzerland. Initial steps have already been taken in this regard. The progress to date confirms that we are on the right track and have laid the right foundations for successfully implementing our strategy. It also underscores our concerted efforts to meet our target of lowering the cost/income ratio for the banking business from today’s figure of 63.6 per cent to below 55 per cent by the end of 2027. 

Baloise in Switzerland’s Executive Committee reorganised

The appointment of Thomas Schöb as CEO of the banking business as of January 2025, which was announced last year, will ensure fresh momentum in strategic management. In this context, Andrea Kleiner will become the new Head of Business Clients from 1 April 2025, joining the Executive Committee of Baloise in Switzerland. 
 

Baloise collects two awards 

Last year, Baloise launched a new e-banking platform, which won first place in the Core Business Integration category of the Best of Swiss Software Awards in December. Baloise also scooped the second prize in the Swiss Insurance Innovation Awards in November 2024 with its innovative marketing campaign #GrandTheftInsurance. On one of Switzerland’s largest role-playing servers, Baloise opened a virtual branch in a fictitious city that is well-known from a video game series played around the world. Two general agents conducted banking business and sold insurance for an entire month, with the public following their adventures live on social media. 

Contact
Baloise, Aeschengraben 21, CH-4002 Basel
Website: www.baloise.com
E-Mail: media.relations@baloise.com / investor.relations@baloise.com
Media Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 76 09
Investor Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 81 81

About Baloise

The focus is firmly on the future at Baloise. We aim to make tomorrow more straightforward, safer and more carefree for our customers, and we are taking responsibility for this today. Baloise is more than just a traditional insurance company. Through our smart finance and insurance solutions, we offer a complete service package. Dependable support, reliable cooperation and trust-based relationships are key aspects of our stakeholder interaction. We take care of financial matters so that our customers can concentrate on the important things in their lives and can find inspiration in the everyday. Baloise, a European company founded more than 160 years ago, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel (Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. Our services generated a business volume of around CHF 8.6 billion in 2024. Baloise Holding Ltd shares (BALN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.