FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Reinsurer Munich Re says net profit rose four percent in the second quarter to $1.05 billion despite the company deciding to write its Greek bonds down to market value.
Gross premiums rose nine percent to $16.9 billion, helping offset claims from tornadoes in the United States.
The company also bounced back from a rough first three months of this year.
The first quarter saw a loss due to claims from the tsunami disaster in Japan, the earthquake in New Zealand and storms and flooding in Australia. The company called the $1.34 billion first quarter loss "an outlier."
CEO Nicholas von Bomhard said Thursday the company's primary insurance business was a stabilizer for the reinsurance operation, which can suffer huge disaster claims.
The company's profit overcame losses in its investment business as it wrote down Greek bonds to their market value as of June 30, leading to an impact on consolidated results of $176.7 billion.
Greek bonds have been trading at well below their face value due to the country's debt crisis, although many financial institutions had put off marking them down. The German accountancy association has urged companies to reflect market losses on their balance sheets.
Eurozone leaders agreed to give Athens a second, $176.7 billion bailout last month that includes asking bondholders to engage in a bond exchange that would reduce the value of their investments of around 21 percent, and economists say another, more severe writedown can't be ruled out.
Munich Re said debt from the three countries that have needed bailouts—Greece, Portugal, and Ireland—made up only four percent of its fixed income portfolio.
Munich Re shares traded up 0.2 percent at $138.58 in morning trading German time.
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