Global reinsurer Munich Re generated a stronger net result of €1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026 compared with €1.1 billion a year earlier, as the technical result increased by roughly €600 million to €2.7 billion on the back of low major-loss costs in its reinsurance business, which achieved a significantly higher net result of €1.5 billion in the quarter.
Group-wide, Munich Re has today reported insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued of €15 billion, a decrease on the prior year’s €15.8 billion, driven mostly by adverse currency translation effects.
During the quarter, the currency result amounted to -€162 million compared with -€506 million last year, with Q1’25’s mostly attributable to the significantly higher exposure to the US dollar and its depreciation.
The reinsurer’s operating result rose to €2.2 billion in Q1’26 from €1.5 billion in Q1’25, as equity increased to €34.6 billion at the end of March, compared with €33.4 billion at the end of December 2025. The annualised return on equity for Q1’26 was 19.7%, up on the prior year’s 13.3%.
The stronger result in the company’s reinsurance business was driven by the property and casualty arm, which produced a net result of €841 million, a rise on last year’s €343 million. Across the reinsurance business, insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued decreased to €9.3 billion from €10.3 billion, as the total technical result increased to €2.1 billion from €1.5 billion, and the operating result rose to €1.9 billion from €1.1 billion.
Within P&C reinsurance, insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued decreased to €3.9 billion in Q1’26 from €4.9 billion in Q1’25. The segment’s combined ratio strengthened to 66.8% from 83.9%, with a normalised combined ratio of 80.3%.
Year-on-year, Munich Re saw far lower losses from major catastrophes in P&C reinsurance in the first quarter of 2026, reporting costs from events of just €108 million, compared with more than €1 billion last year, a period hit by the wildfires in California. Major losses from catastrophes declined to €55 million in Q1’26 from €757 million last year, while man-made major losses fell to €75 million from €251 million.
The life and health (L&H) reinsurance business delivered a total technical result of €500 million in Q1’26, down on the prior year’s €608 million, as the segment’s net result fell to €436 million from €501 million. Insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued increased to €3.3 billion in Q1’26 compared with €3.1 billion in Q1’25.
Turning to the Global Specialty Insurance arm, the net result increased significantly to €202 million from just €8 million. Although insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued fell to €2.1 billion from €2.3 billion, as the combined ratio strengthened to 83.7% from 95.5%, driven by the decrease in major loss costs.
Munich Re states that within its reinsurance field of business, claims from the ongoing conflict in Iran totalled roughly €90 million, of which around €60 million is attributable to Global Specialty Insurance and €30 million to P&C reinsurance.
The large reinsurer has also provided an update on its experience at the April renewals, revealing that it decided to reduce the volume of business written by 18.5% to €2 billion.
“Munich Re systematically opted to not renew or write business that did not meet expectations with respect to the required prices or terms and conditions. Falling prices also led to a reduction in volume,” says the company. “In April, business was written particularly in Japan and India, accounting for approximately 11% of Munich Re’s total property-casualty reinsurance business.”
Despite further price softening, Munich Re says that it was able to compensate for the higher loss estimates in some areas, adding that in spite of the 3.1% drop in prices seen at the most recent renewal, the good price level of its portfolio was largely maintained overall.
“Looking ahead to the upcoming round of renewals in July, Munich Re expects a market environment in which the sustained favourable price levels as well as improved terms and conditions can be largely upheld despite the current market pressure,” adds the firm.
Back to the Q1’26 performance and looking at ERGO, the net result fell slightly to €235 million from €241 million, as insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued increased to €5.7 billion from €5.6 billion. The total technical result for ERGO increased to €581 million in Q1’26 from €549 million in Q1’25, as the operating result rose to €328 million from €323 million.
As well as a solid underwriting result, Munich Re’s investment result increased to €1.7 billion in Q1’26 from €1.3 billion in the previous year, primarily attributable to the significant improvement in the result from fair-value changes. The Q1’26 investment result represents a return of 2.9% on the average market value of the portfolio, up on last year’s 2.2%.
Looking ahead, Munich Re states that its profit guidance of €6.3 billion for the full year 2026 is unchanged.
Andrew Buchanan, Chief Financial Officer, commented: “Munich Re has made an excellent start to 2026 with a Q1 result of €1.7bn. We are therefore fully on track to achieve our target of €6.3bn for the full year. All business fields and segments have reported encouraging development, in turn contributing to the Group’s strong net result. Slightly lower prices in the April property-casualty reinsurance renewals do not obscure the positive overall picture: Prices remain favourable and the quality of our portfolio is high.”
