Hannover Re's 1Q profit rises 23 pct as claims costs fall
FRANKFURT, Germany—Hannover Re AG, one of the world's five biggest reinsurers, said Tuesday that its first-quarter profit rose 23 percent on improved investment results and lower costs on disaster claims.
Reinsurance companies sell backup coverage to other insurers, spreading risk so the system can handle huge losses from major disasters.
The Hannover-based company earned 151.5 million euros ($234.2 million) in the January-March period compared with 123.5 million euros a year earlier. The profit topped the 128 million euros that analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected.
The company's gross premium income slipped to 2.28 billion euros ($3.52 billion) from 2.41 billion euros a year ago.
"Despite some headwind caused by the difficult situation in global capital markets, our quarterly result is a good basis for reaching the targeted after-tax return on equity of above 15 percent," CEO Wilhelm Zeller said in a statement.
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