Munich Re claims big Q1 earnings beat as major claims go absent
Munich Re may have ended the first quarter of 2024 with net profits 42% above analyst expectations and a P&C reinsurance combined ratio more than four points below the market's best guess, the global reinsurer said well ahead of its Q1 release date.
Munich Re left its full-year net profit target of €5 billion intact and said only that the Q1 beat makes the full-year target “more likely.”
The estimated Q1 net take of approximately €2.1 billion “significantly surpassed” the €1.476 billion consensus of equity market analyst expectations which Munich Re had previously compiled and published.
The property & casualty reinsurance combined ratio likely landed near 75%, clearly below the 79.3% average of the 11 analysts included in the Munich Re consensus survey.
Munich Re cited “below average” major-loss expenditure in explaining the beat. Analysts in the survey had put major claims at 10.8% of net earned premium.
Elsewhere, Munich Re claimed a life and health reinsurance technical result of “around” €600 million, above a consensus estimate of €383 million.
Primary insurance division ERGO was attributed a likely net result of approximately €300 million. The consensus estimate had spoken only to sub-sector operating results, not bottom line figures.
Munich Re will provide its final Q1 2024 tallies on May 8, as initially scheduled.
Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk