Zurich Insurance Group said that due to a challenging market, its Irish operation - Zurich Life - saw profits at its new business division fall by 10% to €138.2m last year.
The company's chief executive for Ireland, Anthony Brennan, said that overall the life and pensions market continued to fall in 2012, with margins under pressure.
He said: "We remain focused on maintaining our pricing discipline and writing profitable business to ensure our long term financial strength, maintain our leading long term investment performance and leading position in the independent broker market.”
