Zurich says property and casualty pricing improved in the first quarter, but gross written premium (GWP) fell 2% to $US9.18 billion ($13.25 billion) due to local currency impacts and the disposal of a business in Germany.

Asia-Pacific GWP was $US717 million ($1.04 billion), up 14%, driven mainly by growth in Australia, Malaysia and Japan, while Latin America gained 10%. GWP from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the largest division, fell 7% to $US5.33 billion ($7.69 billion).

On a “like-for-like” basis, Zurich says global property and casualty GWP increased 4%, with gains across all its regions.

CFO George Quinn says the life business continues to perform strongly and Zurich is on track to meet or exceed all targets for the year.

“The group is well positioned to meet the growing expectations of customers in the digital era and continues to strengthen its customer and partnership propositions by adding new distribution agreements,” he said.

The first-quarter update does not include profit figures.