International retail and Hannover Re drive Talanx Q1 growth

The retail international division and the property/casualty (P&C) reinsurance segment boosted growth of Hannover Re parent Talanx in the first quarter of 2017.

Group net income increased by 7.2 percent year on year to €238 million, while gross written premiums rose by 8.4 percent to €9.8 billion.

Drivers of growth were the Retail International Division with a premium gain of 29.2 percent, followed by the P/C reinsurance segment at 12.5 percent and the Industrial Lines Division at 4.3 percent, the company said in a statement.

"We have begun the year 2017 well, with all of our divisions putting in a positive performance,” said Herbert Haas, chairman of the board of management of Talanx. “Our high growth abroad shows just how successful our diversification strategy is proving outside our domestic market. However, our German business is also heading in the right direction. With the results of the first quarter, we are well on track to meet our Group net income target of around €800 million," Haas noted.

Although the Talanx Group's large loss burden increased from €123 million to €153 million compared to the previous year's period, it remained well below the proportional large-loss budget of €243 million, the company noted. The largest loss event was Cyclone Debbie in Australia, which represented a group-wide burden of €50 million. Nevertheless, a marginally lower expense ratio kept the combined ratio unchanged at 96.3 percent in the first quarter, according to the statement.

The Talanx Group's Retail International Division grew gross written premiums by 29.2 percent year on year to €1.5 billion in the first quarter. Across the board, the two regions of Europe (+30.2 percent) and Latin America (+27.4 percent) were equally responsible for these higher premiums.

The combined ratio in the segment remained more or less unchanged at 96.6 percent.

P/C reinsurance grew gross written premiums by 12.5 percent year on year to €2.8 billion. Although the combined ratio deteriorated overall by 0.9 of a percentage point to 95.6 percent, it remained below the 96 percent mark, the company noted. A higher volume of claims pushed the underwriting result down by 9.0 percent to €91 million as at 31 March 2017. The segment’s contribution to group net income fell by 7.0 percent year on year to €132 million in the first quarter.

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