Zurich Insurance set to beat profit targets after strong first-half

ZURICH (Reuters) - Zurich Insurance Group <ZURN.S> is set to beat its financial targets as it reached cost-cutting goals ahead of schedule, Europe's fifth-biggest insurer said on Thursday.

Its first-half business operating profit (BOP) rose 16% to $2.8 billion (2.3 billion pounds), while its property & casualty (P&C) business operating profit rose 46% and its P&C combined ratio of 95.1% fell to its lowest level in the past decade, it said.

Zurich had said in May it was on track to meet or beat its financial targets to 2019.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by John Revill)