Mapfre Re boosts results of parent

Mapfre Re, the reinsurance unit of Spanish insurer Mapfre, helped boost the results of its parent in the first quarter of 2014.

The reinsurance unit increased its gross written premiums to €885.6 million, a 1.2 percent increase on the €875.4 million it posted the year before. But the unit’s profits grew more substantially to €43.4 million, a 22.3 percent increase on the €35.5 million it made in the same period a year earlier.

The reinsurance unit’s combined ratio for the period was 91.1 percent compared with 91.4 percent a year earlier.

The insurance group as a whole posted revenues of €6.9 billion for the quarter, a 0.6 percent decrease, and premiums of €5.9 billion, a 1 percent growth on the first quarter of 2013. The company’s profits for the quarter were €219 million, a 17.1 percent decline on the €264.3 million it made the year before.