The company proposes a dividend increase to EUR 20 per share, subject to shareholder approval, and has announced a new EUR 2 billion share buy-back program to be completed by the 2026 Annual General Meeting.
“With a net result of EUR 5.7 billion, we’ve increased our annual profit by more than EUR 1 billion year on year. Munich Re’s profit growth has been truly substantial and sustained in the context of our five-year Ambition 2025 strategy program, which we’ll conclude at the end of the year. This year’s record dividend of EUR 20 embodies our success. Our shareholders will also benefit from a new share buy-back with a volume of EUR 2 billion, an increase of EUR 500 million. What’s more, we’ll remain ambitious as we seek to boost our annual profit to EUR 6 billion this year. Our confidence here reflects our successful renewals as of 1 January 2025, among other factors,” Joachim WENNING, Chair of the Board of Management stated.
As stated by its Chair of the Board, Munich Re delivered a strong financial performance in 2024, with a net result of EUR 5.7 billion, exceeding its EUR 5 billion target for the fourth consecutive year. Return on equity rose to 18.2%, while earnings per share increased to EUR 42.78. The company proposes a 33% dividend hike to EUR 20 per share.
Munich Re’s solvency ratio improved to 287%, well above the optimal range. The total technical result reached EUR 8.9 billion, and the investment result surged to EUR 7.2 billion. Equity grew to EUR 32.7 billion. Strong diversification and prudent reserving continue to underpin financial resilience against market and claims volatility.
Reinsurance: Result of EUR 4,880 million
The reinsurance field of business contributed EUR 4,880 million to the net result in the 2024 financial year, of which EUR 887 million was in Q4. The original full-year target of EUR 4.2 billion was thus surpassed. Insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued rose to EUR 40,034 million. The total technical result increased to EUR 6,933 million and the operating result climbed to EUR 6,955 million.
Life and health reinsurance generated a total technical result of EUR 2,104 million in 2024, thus substantially outperforming its target of EUR 1.45 billion. The net result in life and health reinsurance increased to EUR 1,681 million. Insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued improved to EUR 11,767 million.
The result in the property-casualty reinsurance segment went up to EUR 3,199 million and insurance revenue from insurance contracts issued rose to EUR 28,267 million. The combined ratio improved to 82.4% of net insurance revenue; the normalized combined ratio was 82.0%.
Overall claims expenditure resulting from major losses totaled EUR 3,885 million in the reporting year, of which EUR 670 million was in Q4. These figures include gains and losses from the run-off of major losses from previous years. Major-loss expenditure corresponded to 14.3% of net insurance revenue in the financial year – which was slightly higher than the expected value of 14%, though the Q4 figure of 9.7% was lower. Man-made major losses amounted to EUR 1,241 million. Major-loss expenditure for natural catastrophes rose to EUR 2,644 million. The major loss figures above take account of the effects from discounting and risk adjustment. Hurricane Helene, which caused severe damage in the southeastern United States and approximately EUR 0.5 billion in losses, amounted to Munich Re’s most expensive single claims event in 2024; expenditure of EUR 0.4 billion made Hurricane Milton the costliest Q4 claims event. In addition, there were numerous flood, thunderstorm and storm events, particularly in North America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Moreover, as the Group’s press release stressed out, although it is not yet possible to accurately estimate the losses caused by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles in January 2025, they were clearly the most substantial wildfire losses in the history of the insurance industry. Munich Re anticipates claims expenditure here to total about EUR 1.2 billion for property-casualty reinsurance and Global Specialty Insurance. At this early stage, this estimate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty owing to the complexity of the losses incurred.
Outlook 2025: New profit target higher than 2024 target
Munich Re is aiming to generate a net profit of EUR 6 billion in 2025. The Group’s insurance revenue will presumably total EUR 64 billion and the return on investment is expected to surpass 3.0%.
In its reinsurance field of business, Munich Re anticipates that insurance revenue will rise to EUR 42 billion in 2025, with a higher net profit of EUR 5.1 billion. In an ongoing favorable market environment, Munich Re will continue to leverage its strong position. The combined ratio is expected to remain at an attractive profitability level – with a combined ratio of 79% in property-casualty reinsurance and 90% in Global Specialty Insurance (GSI), with the latter becoming a separate IFRS reporting segment from 2025. As per segmentation prior to 2025, the combined ratio would amount to 83% for property-casualty reinsurance due to expected strong business growth in GSI and a lower discounting effect compared to 2024. In life and health reinsurance, Munich Re projects a total technical result of EUR 1.7 billion in 2025.
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