Talanx Group, the parent company of Hannover Re, has generated nine-month Group net income of €1,592 million, already exceeding the full prior-year figure, and an improved combined ratio of 91.2% from 93.5 in 9M ‘23, despite numerous natural catastrophe events.
The Group is also lifting its earnings forecast for the ongoing financial year 2024 to exceed €1.9 billion, significantly surpassing the initial projection of more than €1.7 billion.
At the same time, Talanx has raised its net income forecast for 2025, now expecting it to exceed €2.1 billion, significantly higher than its original forecast of €1.6 billion.
This positive outlook is driven by its current business performance, and it now not only expects to hit this target a year earlier than planned but also to substantially exceed it.
Insurance revenue rose, increasing by 12% to €36 billion and operating profit rising by 33% to €3.7 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
Despite a year-on-year rise in large loss payments and a large number of major natural disasters, /talanx was able to grow its insurance service result thanks to “its prudent risk management and underwriting expertise”, the Group stated.
The main drivers for this positive trend were the Reinsurance Division’s extremely strong performance and the even better growth recorded by Primary Insurance, whose insurance revenue was up 20% and which contributed 47% to Group net income.
“Another factor influencing the strong earnings figure was the ongoing successful integration of the former Liberty companies in Latin America. The Group’s return on equity rose to 19.4 (18.4)% and the full-year figure is expected to be well above the strategic target of at least 10%,” Talanx added.
At €1.8 billion, large loss payments were in line with expectations despite a large number of large loss events, remaining within the pro rata budget for the period of €1.9 billion.
Man-made losses amounted to €488 million, while large loss payments for natural disasters totalled €1.3 billion.
Talanx also reported Primary Insurance large losses of €422 million, while the corresponding figure for Reinsurance was €1,304 million.
The largest single loss incurred by the Group €265 million, attributed to the floods in Eastern Europe. Other large losses included Hurricane “Helene” in the USA and the floods in southern Germany.
Torsten Leue, Chairman of Talanx AG’s Board of Management, commented: “We have taken our Group net income to a new, record level and exceeded last year’s figure after only nine months – our risk-aware underwriting, our diversified business model including the acquisition of the companies in Latin America and our decentralised strategy are paying off yet again.
“The rise in large losses in the third quarter, which was due to the large number of natural disasters, is in line with our expectations and our budget. This means we still have a cushion for the rest of the year and are upbeat about the future: we have lifted our earnings forecast for 2024 to more than €1.9 billion and are now expecting 2025 Group net income of more than €2.1 billion. In other words, we are not only going to hit our original 2025 earnings target of €1.6 billion one year ahead of schedule, but will probably also exceed it substantially.”
