Large claims dent Swiss Re first-quarter profit

Reinsurer Swiss Re's first-quarter net profit fell 6.1% to $429 million as claims from large losses offset a 5.5% rise in net premiums, it said on Friday.

Claims from large natural catastrophes and man-made losses included the North Queensland floods in Australia, Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the subsequent grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet, it said. Late claims from prior-year events, mainly from Typhoon Jebi, also weighed.

It said the first tranche of a share buyback program worth up to 1 billion Swiss francs ($980.7 million) would launch on May 6.