Shareholders' dividend expected to rise by 4.5%
Munich Re increased its consolidated profit to €2.56bn (£2.24bn) in 2009 from €1.58bn in 2008.
The profit for the fourth quarter totalled €0.78bn. Subject to approval by the supervisory board and the annual general meeting, the shareholders’ dividend will rise by 4.5% to €5.75 per share.
Chief financial officer Jörg Schneider said: “This is another good result that demonstrates Munich Re’s earnings strength … Despite the challenges posed by the market environment in 2009, we were even able to slightly exceed our ambitious return target of 15% on risk-adjusted capital after tax.”
Gross premiums written by the group in the financial year 2009 rose by just under 10% to €41.4bn. The combined ratio in reinsurance was 95.3% (99.4%) for January to December, and 92.5% (97.6%) for the fourth quarter. This includes 3.6 percentage points – or €0.5bn – for recession-related major losses, just under €0.2bn of which was incurred in the fourth quarter.
In primary insurance, the 2009 combined ratio for the property-casualty segment (including legal expenses insurance) amounted to 93.1%. Its level in the fourth quarter was particularly good at 90.0%.
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
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