Munich Re said Thursday it expects first-quarter profits to be “gratifying” amid a calmer situation on the financial markets and fewer losses than last year.
“Although the picture is not yet complete, the data we have show that the volume of major losses remained far below last year’s level,” chief executive Nikolaus von Bomhard told shareholders at the annual general meeting.
“At the same time, the situation in the financial markets has calmed down somewhat, at least for the moment. Altogether, the result of the first quarter is therefore likely to be gratifying,” von Bomhard said.
In concrete terms, Munich Re “believed that we have achieved a quarterly profit of over 750 million euros ($991 million), the chief executive said. In the first quarter of 2011, the group booked a loss of 947 million euros in the wake of losses incurred from the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and the storms in Australia.
Von Bomhard said he was “optimistic” regarding the rest of the year and confirmed the group’s target for net profit of around 2.5 billion euros for the whole of 2012. Munich Re is scheduled to publish detailed first-quarter figures on May 8.
Frankfurt, April 26, 2012 (AFP)
