News in brief

Allianz revenues boosted

Allianz has said its first-quarter revenues will hit more than €30bn (£25.73bn), compared to €27.7bn in Q1 2009. Operating profit is expected to be around €1.7bn, up from €1.4bn in 2009, despite €500m of catastrophe losses. “Operating profit for the property-casualty segment will be below the previous year’s level,” Aviva stated. “But by contrast, the life/health and asset management segments were able to improve operating profit and compensate for these results.”

Catlin GWP shoots up 9%

Catlin increased gross written premium (GWP) 9%, from $1.17bn (£788.7m) in last year’s first quarter to $1.27bn for the same period this year. Catlin said its exposure to Deepwater Horizon claims was $40m net of reinsurance and reinstatements. Chief executive Stephen Catlin said the Lloyd’s insurer’s margin would be hit by the Chile earthquake and the oil rig explosion. “These are the types of losses for which policyholders purchase insurance, and we anticipate that they will have a positive impact on pricing and demand for coverage over time,” he said.

Hannover Re ‘on target’

Hannover Re announced that Q1 GWP grew 7.1% to €2.9bn (£2.49bn), compared with €2.7bn in the same period last year. The operating profit stood at €245m, down from €307m in 2009. Chief executive Ulrich Wallin said: “Although the burden of major losses in this quarter was higher than expected, the result puts in place a good platform for attaining our 2010 profit target – a return on equity of at least 15% after tax.” The company’s largest single loss was the Chilean earthquake, at €185.1m. The Haiti earthquake produced losses of €25.5m due to lower insured values.