Hannover Re's Quarterly Profit Declines

NU Online News Service, May 27, 2:37 p.m. EDT? German reinsurance giant Hannover Re said its first-quarter net income fell 21 percent, to 71.2 million euro ($84.8 million), compared to one year ago, driven down by weak capital markets and unfavorable exchange rates.

Speaking at the reinsurer's annual general meeting in Hanover, Germany, chief executive Wilhelm Zeller noted that gross written premiums across all of Hannover Re's business units were 3.2 billion euro ($3.8 billion) for the 2003 first quarter, down .9 percent compared to the year-ago period.

The main reason the company didn't post a higher premium volume, according to Hannover Re, was the unfavorable movement in euro-U.S. dollar exchange rates. The average value of the euro rose by some 20 percent against the U.S. dollar during the last six months, creating an adverse environment for Hannover Re, which has roughly half of its business generated in U.S. currency.

Additionally, the company wrote off 75.3 million euro on investments because of declining equity markets, but Hannover Re assured that it does not anticipate any further need for "significant write-offs," provided that there are no further price declines on the international stock markets.

Overall, apart from the investment write-offs, this year has so far proven to be "highly satisfactory," Hannover Re said. For one, the market development and the renewal season in property-casualty reinsurance have shown that the hard market is still holding up despite some "isolated signs" of a leveling-off or slight declines in premium volumes, the company observed.

"For the year as a whole we do not anticipate any premium growth in property and casualty reinsurance, but we do expect a higher profit contribution," Mr. Zeller predicted.

He forecast that if the catastrophe loss remains in line with the multiyear average and if there is no further deterioration in capital markets, "we anticipate a highly successful 2003 financial year."

Affirming the company's previous earnings target, he added, "In our assessment, net income of between 280 million and 310 million euro remains a realistic target."

Headquartered in Hannover, Germany, Hannover Re is the world's fifth-largest reinsurer and the second-biggest German reinsurance company, behind Munich Re.

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Hannover Re's Quarterly Profit Declines

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