FRANKFURT: German reinsurer Hannover Re yesterday said it is “well on track” to achieving its full-year target after a positive third quarter and first nine months.
“Hannover Re expressed considerable satisfaction with the development of its business in the first nine months of the year,” the group said in a statement.
“Despite challenging market conditions, and particularly in view of the low interest rate level, we generated group net income of ¤613m ($828m) and are thus well on track to achieve our full-year target in the order of ¤800m,” said chief executive Ulrich Wallin.
In concrete terms, profits were actually down in both the third quarter and the first nine months.
But that was because the year-earlier figures had been artificially inflated by one-off effects and an “unusually low” burden from natural catastrophes, Hannover Re explained
Third-quarter net profit fell by 22.6 percent to ¤205.5m and nine-month net profit was down 8.6 percent at ¤613.2m.
Operating profit also declined, by 30.7 percent to ¤291m in the third quarter and by 5.4 percent to ¤961.6m in the first nine months. Gross premium income fell by 2.8 percent to ¤3.311bn in the third quarter, but rose by 2.3 percent to ¤10.538bn in first nine months.
On the basis of its performance so far, “Hannover Re is well placed to achieve the targeted net income after tax in the order of 800 million for the full 2013 financial year,” the company said.
This was conditional upon major losses not significantly exceeding expectations and the assumption that there would be no unforeseen downturns on capital markets. AFP
