By Alice Uribe


SYDNEY--QBE Insurance Group said it plans to close its North America middle-market business following its weak performance over several years.

The general insurer's decision to close the business followed a strategic review. QBE said Wednesday that it would now refocus its North America strategy on businesses that hold a more "meaningful market position."

"The closure will have no incremental impact on appetite or strategy for North America's three core businesses, Specialty, Crop and Commercial," QBE said.

A restructuring charge of around $100 million before tax will be recorded in the fiscal 2024 result to account for costs associated with the business closure.

QBE affirmed its guidance for fiscal 2024 and said it continued to expect gross written premium growth in the mid-single digits when currency swings are stripped out, and a combined operating ratio of around 93.5%.

Ahead of its first-half result due in August, QBE said it expected to report GWP of around $13.1 billion and net insurance revenue of around $8.4 billion.

On catastrophe costs, QBE estimated that costs in the five months to May were around $500 million relative to the first half fiscal 2024 catastrophe budget of $609 million.

Total investment income in the five months to May was $643 million, up from $406 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, the insurer said.


Write to Alice Uribe at alice.uribe@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-18-24 2136ET