Munich Re warned it expected its first annual loss since the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
Unveiling its third quarter results, Munich Re revealed profits of €152m (£106m) for the third quarter. According to a report this follows five consecutive quarterly losses.
The company said in a statement: "Assuming normal claims experience and stable capital markets, Munich Re expects to record a post-tax loss for the year 2003 purely due to the non-deductibility of a large portion of the writedowns and losses on the disposal of shares.
"The group anticipates that the pre-tax result will show a very clear profit," added the company.
It said good performance from its underwriting business would improve the company's earnings position.
Munich re said it had been hit by claims from Hurricane Isabel hitting the US East Coast in September, Typhoon Maemi in South Korea and Hurricane Fabian in the Bermudas.
Claims also arose from the summer blackouts in Canada and the North East of the US. Munich Re said two satellite losses and some large fires in industrial plants had hit the third quarter results.
The results come a month after Munich Re announced a rights issue to raise almost €4bn to boost a capital base undermined by the underperformance of its investment portfolio, said a report.
