Zurich Financial for the full-year 2002 reported a $3.4 billion net loss.

The most recent results "demonstrate that Zurich has come a long way over the last year," said James Schiro, chief executive officer at the company. He also said Zurich had a significant improvement for its 2003 nine-month results, with net income of $1.4 billion. In contrast, the company had a net loss of $2.79 billion for the first three quarters of 2002.

Other positive figures included Zurich's business operating profit, which rose to $1.47 billion for the first nine months from $490 million for the same period one year ago.

The company also reported 26 percent premium growth in non-life insurance to $27.8 billion for the first three quarters of 2003, compared to the same period one year ago. Combined ratio for the first three quarters was at 98.2 percent, an improvement of 16.6 points over last year.

Mr. Schiro also noted that Zurich is benefiting from a number of factors, including improved claims and expense management in its core businesses, firm rates in most non-life markets, and the modest recovery in the global equity markets. "Having generated a net income of $1.4 billion in the first nine months, we are now able to deal with adverse developments from a position of operational and financial strength," he said.