(Bloomberg) – Zurich Insurance Group AG raised its target for cost cuts and dropped plans to eliminate jobs as Chief Executive Officer Mario Greco overhauls Switzerland's largest insurer. The shares rose.

The new plan to cut costs by $1.5 billion from 2015 through 2019 replaces a previous goal to save at least $1 billion by the end of 2018. Zurich Insurance will also target a payout ratio of 75 percent of net income after tax, the firm said in a statement on Thursday. A minimum dividend of 17 Swiss francs ($17) a share will be maintained.

"The commitment on the dividend/payout ratio is positive as there has been a recurring question on Zurich's ability to deliver on its higher-than-average payout ratio," Olivier Pauchaut, an analyst at Bryan Garnier & Co. in Paris, said in a note to clients.

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