QBE Insurance returns to profit

QBE Insurance Group Ltd. returned to a full-year profit as its North American underwriting operations recovered and there was no repeat of the hefty impairment charges recorded a year earlier.

Still, the Australian insurer said it expected the strengthening US dollar to weigh on its gross written premiums in 2015, while global pricing was expected to remain broadly flat.

QBE recorded a net profit of USD742 million in 2014 compared with a loss of USD254 million a year earlier, when it was hurt by restructuring costs and one-off charges at its North American unit. The result also marked a turnaround from the fiscal first-half, when net profit fell 18 percent to USD392 million on the back of a weaker-than-expected performance in its Latin American operations.