Talanx shoots past €1bn profit for first time earlier than forecast

German re/insurer  Talanx Group, the parent company of Hannover Re and HDI, has reported its net profit has surpassed the €1 billion mark for the first time - one year earlier than forecast in 2018, when the group published its goals for the period up to 2022.

The profit surged 50% to €1.01 billion despite “historically high” net claims expenses in the last year, the company revealed in its unaudited consolidated results.

Gross written premium income saw a double-digit increase of 10.7% to €45.5 billion.

The company attributed its earnings growth to its strategic optimisation programmes in the industrial lines and primary insurance retail Germany divisions.

The retail international division was also “highly profitable”, Talanx said. As a result, the share of group net profit accounted for by primary insurance rose from 31% in 2018 to approximately 45%, while Hannover Re also saw an increase in earnings.

In November 2021, Talanx had forecast that group net profit for 2021 would be at the upper end of the range of €900–950 million. In 2018, Talanx had announced that it would lift earnings per share (EPS) by an average of at least 5% per annum in the period up to 2022.

In light of these improvements, the company's board of management intends to raise the dividend for financial year 2021 to €1.60 (1.50) per share.

The board is expecting group net profit for 2022 to rise again and to be within the range of €1.05–1.15 billion.

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