Munich Re targets €3bn profit as investment income surges
MUNICH RE yesterday raised its target profit for 2012 to €3bn (£2.4bn), thanks to an absence of large disasters and a strong investment performance.
The world’s biggest reinsurer also announced that third quarter consolidated profit was €1.1bn – up from €290m for the same period last year – in part thanks to a 65 per cent rise in investment income.
Although the insurer does not know the full cost of Hurricane Sandy, executives do not expect disaster claims to ruin the firm’s final results.
“The high number of individual losses and the vast extent of the storm make loss estimation very difficult,” said chief financial officer Jörg Schneider. “Based on a provisional estimate characterised by a high degree of uncertainty, we anticipate Munich Re’s share of the losses to be in the mid three-digit million euro range.”
The announcement follows strong results earlier this week from rival German insurer Hannover Re, who also raised year-end expectations.