Munich Re reported profits of €628m for the second quarter of the year, bringing its result for the first six months of 2004 to €1.2bn.
Chairman Nikolaus von Bomhard said the results showed the company's hard work was bearing fruit. “Discipline and consistency are proving their worth on the way to achieving our result target,” he said.
The company reaffirmed its profit target of €2bn for the year, and said the results from the first six months represented an increase of €1.7bn on the €529m loss reported for the first half of 2003.
The company also reported a combined ratio of 93.4% for its insurance business and a combined ratio of 95.5% for its reinsurance business.
Munich Re said the improved results were due to the “satisfying” performance of its reinsurance business and an increase in its investment profit.
Despite the increased profit, written premiums declined 5.25 to €19.7bn compared with the first half of 2003. But Munich Re said if exchange rates had remained at a constant level, written premiums would have declined by only 2.7%.
Munich Re said the performance of its reinsurance business continued to be “excellent” in the second quarter, yielding a profit of €595m, contributing €1,093m to the group's profit in the first half year.
Notable individual losses for Munich Re in the second quarter were the collapse of the roof of the terminal at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, and the collision between a car carrier and an oil tanker south of Singapore. The estimates for these losses are around €20m and €10m respectively, it said.
