ZURICH, May 4 (Reuters) - Swiss Re SRENH.S , the world's second-largest reinsurer, said on Thursday first-quarter net profit fell nearly 47 percent after outlays on claims from Australia's Cyclone Debbie stripped $350 million from the reinsurer's bottom line.
The group's first-quarter net profit of $656 million fell shy of estimates, which averaged $692 million in a Reuters poll of eight analysts. Re's property and casualty combined ratio, a measure of underwriting profitability, rose to 95.6 percent, better than a Reuters poll average of 98.3 percent. A figure below 100 percent indicates a profit.