Covéa Insurance reported a further improvement in profitability for 2025, delivering stronger underwriting results in what remains a soft and competitive UK market.
The insurer posted gross written premium (GWP) of £616.8 million in 2025, down from £641.5 million in 2024. Profit after tax more than doubled year-on-year to £72.4 million from £32.9 million, while the combined operating ratio (COR) improved to 91.6% from 97.8%, signalling a marked strengthening in underwriting performance.
Core written premium was broadly stable at £598.5 million, compared to £598.3 million in 2024 excluding non-core business, suggesting Covéa has broadly maintained its footprint in target segments while continuing to reshape its portfolio.
“2025 was an excellent year for Covéa Insurance, not only in terms of financial performance but in the strength and confidence of the organisation. Building on a profitable 2024, the strong performance in 2025 validates the business strategy, proves the resilience of the organisation and its ability to execute well, with discipline and pace,” said Covéa Insurance CEO Philippe Domart (pictured).
The latest figures extend a recovery that began in 2024, when Covéa moved back into profit after a difficult 2023 and reported a COR of 97.8%. That earlier turnaround was underpinned by an exit from non-core lines and a simplification of the UK operating model, with management emphasising a tighter focus on technical pricing and volatility reduction.
Against that backdrop, a 2025 COR of 91.6% represents a significant step beyond simple remediation and places Covéa at the more profitable end of the UK non-life market. While the insurer has given up some top-line premium as part of its portfolio reshaping, the 2025 numbers indicate that earnings are now being driven more by underwriting discipline than by rate-led expansion.
Covéa’s 2025 COR compares favourably with several larger UK players.
Aviva reported a 2025 combined operating ratio in the mid-90s for its UK and Ireland general insurance business, alongside strong premium growth. Allianz’s UK commercial arm has also been reporting CORs in the mid-90s while growing operating profit, and Lloyd’s has recently delivered a market COR in the low 90s on significantly higher GWP.
Set against these benchmarks, Covéa’s sub-92% COR, albeit on a smaller premium base, aligns it with some of the better-performing names in the UK general insurance space. For brokers, that relative profitability may be read as a sign of resilience as the market moves further into the softer part of the cycle.
Covéa’s results land in a UK market still dealing with the after-effects of several years of claims inflation, alongside increasing competitive pressure on rates.
Analysts expected UK motor insurers, for example, to be operating close to break-even on underwriting through 2025, with net combined ratios hovering around 100% as earlier pricing corrections are competed away and claims costs remain elevated. Home insurance was also forecast to come under pressure as weather losses, higher repair costs and competition weigh on margins.
Higher-for-longer interest rates are providing some offset in the form of stronger investment income, helping to support overall profitability even where underwriting margins are tight. Rating agencies have generally maintained a “stable” outlook on the UK P&C sector but have warned that margins will be tested if competition intensifies or catastrophe experience reverts to long-term norms.
The 2025 figures point to a carrier that has moved beyond heavy restructuring and is now competing on a cleaner, more focused book, with capacity and appetite underpinned by stronger underwriting results.
The key question for the next phase of the cycle will be whether Covéa can hold its COR in the low 90s as competitive pressures build, or whether its performance begins to drift back towards market averages. For now, the 2025 numbers suggest the insurer has entered that phase from a position of greater balance sheet strength and underwriting discipline than it had just a few years ago.
