(Bloomberg) -- Zurich Insurance Group AG overcame a record year for natural-disaster claims in the industry to deliver its first dividend increase since 2011. The shares rose the most since August 2016.

Switzerland’s biggest insurer raised its dividend for 2017 by 6% to 18 Swiss francs ($19.10) a share, after signaling higher investor payouts in November. This will now become the new floor for payouts, Chief Executive Officer Mario Greco said in a Bloomberg TV interview Thursday. Zurich Insurance also announced a share buyback of roughly $1 billion.

Overhaul bearing fruit


When Greco took over as CEO almost two years ago, he pledged to simplify the insurer, slash costs and improve shareholder returns. Now his overhaul is bearing fruit with almost half the planned cost savings for 2019 achieved.

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