Deutsche Rück expands business in Europe
Together with its subsidiary DR Swiss (Deutsche Rückversicherung Schweiz AG) Deutsche Rückversicherung AG achieved an operating result before tax of €13.6 million in the financial year 2010 while gross premiums written came to €919.9 million. Deutsche Rück boosted its volume of business with insurers outside the shareholder group – the German public-law insurers – both in Germany and in other European countries. The gross premium was down on the previous year due to a significant increase in retentions in business with shareholders. "Our strategy to open the market is proceeding successfully and according to plan. Rapid growth is not our aim here, but an underwriting policy geared towards sustainable and risk-commensurate earnings", said Deutsche Rück's CEO and Chairman of the Administrative Board of DR Swiss, Dr. Arno Junke.
In the property lines, numerous windstorms, periods of severe frost, flooding and, above all, windstorm Xynthia resulted in a higher claims expenditure in 2010. The net claims expenditure for property and casualty business climbed to 73.8 percent in 2010. At €-28.4 million, the net underwriting result was an improvement over the previous year.
In non-technical business, the Deutsche Rück Group attained an investment result of €46.4 million in 2010. This largely compensated for the non-recurring effect of the €25 million in write-ups undertaken in 2009.
A leap in tax expenditure reduced the net profit for the year after tax to €3.7 million. Among other things, the Group used this profit to boost its equity to €521.8 million. In relation to net premiums, this equates to a ratio of 88.5 percent.
"Following a successful renewal season, we expect 2011 to once again prove a good financial year for Deutsche Rück," reported Dr. Arno Junke. "Thanks, not least, to its excellent financial strength, as confirmed by the Standard & Poor’s "A+" rating, Deutsche Rück will continue to forge further sustainable reinsurance relationships in Europe." The major loss events in the first half of 2011 only had a negligible impact on the two companies, due to their underwriting policy. "Provided that losses and financial market developments remain within the expected range, we are confident that both our results and our capital base will remain stable or show a slight improvement in the current financial year," said the CEO in summary.
