Gjensidige earnings increased sharply in the third quarter of 2026, with profit after tax reaching NOK 2.077 billion as stronger insurance operations outweighed a negative financial result. Results released on October 23 showed a general insurance service result of NOK 3.004 billion and a combined ratio of 73.6%, although management cautioned that unusually favorable claims helped the quarter.
Key Takeaways
- Insurance profitability strengthened, led by improvements in Norway and Denmark.
- Management said favorable weather and lower large losses contributed to results and should not be treated as a new run rate.
- Sweden weakened despite revenue growth, while the general insurance financial result was negative.
Table of Contents
- Gjensidige earnings reflect stronger insurance margins
- Norway and Denmark improve as Sweden weakens
- Growth figures require accounting and currency distinctions
- Investment losses and claims uncertainty temper the quarter
- Conclusion
Gjensidige earnings reflect stronger insurance margins
Profit before tax reached NOK 2.781 billion. The general insurance result increased by NOK 733 million year on year, while insurance revenue grew 3.7% in local currency. Excluding the effect of a non-recurring home seller insurance item in private Norway a year earlier, revenue growth was 5.3%.
The 73.6% combined ratio showed strong underwriting profitability: a lower ratio means claims and expenses consume a smaller share of insurance revenue. The cost ratio was 10.7%, excluding technology-division restructuring costs, and annualized return on equity reached 34.2%.
For context, Gjensidige’s published annual financial targets set a combined ratio below 82% and return on equity above 24% for 2026. Those are full-year benchmarks, not quarterly forecasts; the third-quarter performance alone does not establish the annual outcome.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Segment comparison | Q3 2026 insurance service result changes versus Q3 2025. |
| Private Norway | Up NOK 361 million; underlying frequency loss ratio improved 4.9 percentage points. |
| Commercial Norway | Up NOK 331 million; underlying frequency loss ratio improved 9.6 percentage points. |
| Private Denmark | Up NOK 41 million; underlying frequency loss ratio improved 1 percentage point. |
| Commercial Denmark | Up NOK 224 million; underlying loss ratio improved 7.2 percentage points. |
| Sweden | Down NOK 72 million; underlying frequency loss ratio worsened 8.2 percentage points. |
Norway and Denmark improve as Sweden weakens
Private Norway benefited primarily from better motor insurance profitability. Commercial Norway also improved substantially, although volumes declined as Gjensidige prioritized profitability over retaining some larger customers, particularly in accident and health insurance.
Chief Financial Officer Jostein Amdal attributed commercial Norway’s improvement to portfolio changes, longer-term profitability work and favorable quarterly volatility. He declined to quantify how much of the improvement came from each factor.
Sweden moved in the opposite direction despite local-currency revenue growth of 11.3%. Amdal identified the normalization of mid-sized claims after an unusually benign 2025 as the largest drag. Temporary technology costs also affected the loss and cost ratios.
Growth figures require accounting and currency distinctions
Amdal said private Norway’s insurance revenue increased 9.4% year on year after adjusting for the third-quarter 2025 accounting change related to home seller insurance. That adjusted figure still included the headwind from terminating five fire mutual agreements.
Written premiums were a separate measure: group gross written premium growth was negative 1% as reported but positive 0.9% at constant exchange rates. Amdal said the earlier accounting change affected earned premiums, not written premiums.
Chief Executive Geir Holmgren said private customer numbers in Norway were higher than at year-end 2025. He pointed to partnerships and cross-selling as growth opportunities, but said price cuts would not be used as a mechanism to win growth.
Investment losses and claims uncertainty temper the quarter
The financial result in general insurance was negative NOK 193 million, reflecting high interest rates and wider credit spreads. Both the match portfolio, net of insurance finance, and the free portfolio returned negative 0.04%, while the real estate portfolio delivered a positive return.
The solvency ratio stood at 190% at quarter-end. Gjensidige issued a NOK 1 billion Tier 2 loan in September and redeemed an existing NOK 1.2 billion Tier 2 loan on October 7.
Management stressed that 2026 had benefited from favorable weather, no major events and large losses below its internal model’s long-term expectation. Amdal estimated private Norway’s blended claims inflation at around 4%–5%, with considerable uncertainty around the underlying assumptions.
Conclusion
Gjensidige earnings showed stronger underwriting performance, but management did not present the quarter’s favorable claims experience as a sustainable run rate. The remaining quarter of 2026 will determine how that performance translates into results against the company’s annual targets.
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