Scor is happy with its January renewals, and reports “some signs of levelling out” for certain types of contract and exposure in the (re)insurance market.

The French reinsurer’s global P&C operation recorded gross premium growth of 2% at constant exchange rates to €3 billion ($4.77 billion) at the January 1 renewals.

Its P&C treaties – excluding specialty – achieved a 2.4% rise in gross premium at constant exchange rates to €2.14 billion ($3.4 billion), despite a 2% drop in the markets of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The resurgent US economy made up for the slack, Scor says.

“Scor Global P&C continues to find pockets of profitable new business, more than counterbalancing the premium reductions caused by increased selectivity and heightened portfolio management, thereby maintaining overall expected profitability,” it says.

“The 2% overall premium growth reflects very fragmented trends, by market/region and by line of business.

“Further openings in the US, where the rebuilding of the franchise is progressing very well, have offset voluntary reductions of shares or cancellations with clients that no longer meet profitability conditions, from both mature and emerging markets”.