By Alice Uribe

SYDNEY--QBE Insurance Group Ltd. has logged a US$712 million net loss in its fiscal first half after taking a hit from Covid-19 related costs and an investment loss due to market volatility.

Sydney-based QBE's statutory net loss for the first six months of the year compared to a US$463 million profit in the first half of 2019.

Directors on Thursday declared a half-year dividend of A$0.04 per share, a drop from last year's interim payout of A$0.25. QBE said the decision to pay a dividend reflected the board's "confidence in the strength and stability of QBE coupled with an increasingly promising outlook supported by improved industry pricing."

QBE, which issued an estimate of its interim results on July 22, confirmed the group's first-half combined operating ratio was 103.4%. When the impacts of Covid-19 were stripped out, it said the combined operating ratio was 97.4%.

The insurer made a pre-tax investment loss of US$90 million compared with a US$755 million gain in the prior period, and its gross written premium was up 10% to US$8.04 billion. 



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