The earnings per share of Munich Re surged 42.2% to €6.88 in the second quarter of 2019
Main building of Munich Re in Munich, Germany. (Credit: Munich Re / Marcus Buck, München)
Munich Re has reported a 36.4% increase in its second quarter 2019 profit to €993m (£914.4m) compared to €728m (£670.38m) made in the same period last year.
The earnings per share of the German reinsurance giant surged 42.2% to €6.88 (£6.34) in the reported period from €4.84 (£4.46) in Q2 2018.
Munich Re’s operating result moved up to €1.57bn (£1.45bn) from €997m (£918.09m) reported in the second quarter of 2018. The company’s tax on income increased from €68m (£62.62m) made in Q2 2018 to €344m (£316.77m).
Gross premiums written for the German reinsurer grew by 5.5% to €11.8bn (£10.87bn) from €11.2bn (£10.31bn) in Q2 2018. The company said the growth could have been 3.5% if exchange rates remained unchanged.
Munich Re’s reinsurance business earned €858m (£790.09m) in Q2 2019 compared to €620m (£570.93m) in Q2 2018 to the consolidated result. The operating result increased from €701m (£645.52m) in Q2 2018 to €1.16bn (£1.07bn).
Gross premiums written by the reinsurance unit moved up by 9.4% from €6.93bn (£6.38bn) in Q2 2018 to €7.58bn (£6.98bn) in Q2 2019.
The life and health reinsurance business delivered a profit of €154m (£141.81m) in Q2 2019, which was down by 45.9% compared to €285m (£262.44m) reported in the same period last year. The property-casualty reinsurance business surged 110.2% from €335m (£308.48m) in Q2 2018 to €704m (£648.28m) in the reported period.
Munich Re’s ERGO business increased its Q2 2019 profit by 25.3% to €135m (£124.31m) from €108m (£99.45m) made in the same period in the previous year. ERGO provides customers with expert advice and a range of primary insurance products through its group of companies.
Gross premiums written by the unit were down by nearly 1% to €4.21bn (£3.88bn) in the second quarter of 2019.
Management comments on Munich Re Q2 2019 results
Munich Re board of management chairman Joachim Wenning said: “We are delighted to have generated our highest quarterly result in four years. And we are confident that we will reach our profit guidance of €2.5bn for 2019 and €2.8bn for 2020 as set out in our multi-year ambition for 2018–2020. At the halfway stage of this programme, Munich Re is both strategically and financially on track.”