Zurich Insurance Group says it must do better following a 4% fall in first-quarter net profit to $US1.22 billion ($1.55 billion).

Gross written premium (GWP) dropped to $US13.77 billion ($17.47 billion) from $US14.74 billion ($18.7 billion) in the corresponding period last year, while the combined operating ratio deteriorated to 96.7% from 95.9%.

“There are clearly some areas where we need to make improvements, and we continue to focus on efficiencies across the group as well as on our turnaround businesses,” CFO George Quinn said.

The Swiss insurer plans to update investors on its strategy next week.

General insurance GWP declined to $US10.1 billion ($12.8 billion) from $US10.6 billion ($13.5 billion). The insurer has given no details about its Australian operations.

Overall revenue increased to $US22.9 billion ($29.1 billion) from $US16.9 billion ($21.4 billion), mainly due to unit-linked investments returns of $US8.7 billion ($11 billion), up from $US1.5 billion ($1.9 billion).