Munich Re boosts profit despite impact from typhoons and fires
Reinsurance titan Munich Re today said it had beaten profit targets for 2018, delivering profit of €2.3bn (£2.02bn) during the year.
Gross written premium stayed flat at €49.064bn
Munich’s reinsurance business contributed €1.74bn to the consolidated result in 2018 and the operating result leapt from €73m to €2.464bn.
Gross written premiums fell slightly to €31.286bn.
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The firm’s property-casualty reinsurance result rose to €1.135bn. Its combined ratio for the year was 99.4 per cent, rising to 105.1 per cent in the fourth quarter owing to especially high losses from natural disasters.
Natural catastrophe losses stood at €1.256bn with €697m in the fourth quarter, while man-made major losses were €896bn, up on the previous year.
The costliest natural disasters last year were Typhoon Jebi in Asia which costs around €440m and the two wildfires in California in November which led to losses of around €430m.
Chief financial officer Christoph Jurecka said: “We are very satisfied with the overall result for 2018. We increased our profit and achieved our result target – despite the volatile capital markets and high losses from natural catastrophes in the fourth quarter.”
The insurer plans to boost its dividend to €9.25 per share, subject to approval by the advisory board and its annual general meeting.
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