Munich Re chief financial officer ‘satisfied’ with results

Munich Re

Munich Re made a profit of €2.6bn (£2.2bn) in 2016, down 16% on the €3.1bn profit the reinsurance group made in 2015.

But the company hit its profit target of “well over €2.3bn” for the year.

Munich Re chief financial officer Jörg Schneider said: “We are satisfied with the result for 2016. Thanks to our strong market position, client proximity and successful investment management, we were largely able to counter the effects of low interest rates and intense competition in the reinsurance markets.”

Munich Re’s core reinsurance division made a profit of €2.5bn in 2016, down from the €3.3bn it made in 2015. The unit’s combined operating ratio (COR) jumped six percentage points to 95.7% (2015: 89.7%) after the group paid out €1.5bn in claims for large losses, up from €1bn the previous year.

The claims added 9.1 points to the combined ratio (2015: 6.2 points). Munich Re’s biggest claim was €404m from the forest fires in Alberta, Canada in May 2016.

Ergo, Munich Re’s primary insurance division, made a loss of €40m for the year, an improvement on the €200m loss it made in 2015.

Munich Health made a profit of £140m, up from €90m in 2015.