P&C fuels Hannover Re Q1 profit growth

Hannover Re has reported increased profits for the first quarter of 2021, driven by strong growth in the property and casualty (P&C) reinsurance division in particular.

The German reinsurer reported net profit of €305.9 million for Q1 2021, up from €300.9 million the previous year, representing growth of 1.7 percent at the group level.

Gross written premiums came in at €7.8 billion for the first three months of 2021, from just under €7 billion the previous year, an increase of 11.9 percent.

The P&C reinsurance business reported average price increases of around 5.5 percent, with gross written premiums rising to €5.7 billion in Q1 2021, from just under €5 billion in Q1 2020, an increase of 14.2 percent.

Net profit in P&C reinsurance amounted to €269.2 million as at the close of Q1 2021, up from €207.3 percent the previous year. The combined ratio fell to 96.2 percent, from 99.8 percent in the same period of 2020.

Meanwhile the life and health reinsurance business reported gross written premiums of €2.1 billion, from just under €2 billion the previous year, an increase of 6.1 percent. Net profit fell to €48.8 million, from €110.2 million, a decline of 55.7 percent.

Jean-Jacques Henchoz, Hannover Re’s CEO, said the Q1 results represented a solid basis for achieving its self imposed goals for the full 2021 financial year. "Hannover Re is superbly placed to benefit from the sustained improvements in prices and conditions in our market,” he said. “Even though the pandemic has now been with us for more than a year, our robust capital resources remain unchanged thanks to our outstanding risk management."

Hannover Re said it expects to report profit in the range of €1.15 billion to €1.25 billion for the 2021 financial year, with gross premium forecast to grow in the upper single-digit percentages, adjusted for exchange rate effects.