By Martin Mou

Zurich Insurance Group AG said Thursday that first-half net profit slid 42% due to adverse effects brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Net profit decreased to $1.18 billion, while operating profit fell 40% to $1.70 billion, the Swiss insurance giant said.

The decline was largely due to an overall Covid-19-related impact of $686 million and weaker performance of its investments amid financial-market volatility, the company said.

Life new business annual premium equivalent fell 25%. The key industry metric known as APE measures new business growth.

Zurich Insurance said it expects full-year net earned premiums from property and causalty insurance to be around the same level as 2019. 



  Write to Martin Mou at martin.mou@wsj.com