Zurich’s new business levels fall 22%

New business levels fell by 22% to €65.8m at financial services provider Zurich Life (Ireland), during the first six months of this year.

This was a higher fall than the average market decline of 13% and excluded investment-only figures. When these are included, Zurich Ireland’s new business annual premium equivalent was down by 14% on a year- on-year basis, to €77.4m.

Despite the disappointing headline figure — Zurich Ireland did, however, see continued strong profitability levels on new premiums, with a new business margin of 2.3% expected for this year as a whole; up from 2.2% for 2011 — Anthony Brennan, the CEO, still painted an optimistic picture.