Germany’s Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, posted a 35-per-cent fall in second-quarter profits Tuesday after devastating floods in Europe cost the company 230 million euros ($305 million).
Net profits slumped to a lower-than-forecast 529 million euros in the three months to the end of June from 808 million euros in the same period last year, the Munich-based group said.
Analysts had forecast a drop to 531 million euros.
But Chief Executive Nikolaus von Bomhard said the company remained “on track” to report a full-year net profit of close to 3 billion euros.
Reinsurers help to cover the claims made to general insurance companies.
The floods, which engulfed parts of Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Austria in June, pushed up the company’s damages’ claims bill to 605 million euros. This compared with 452 million euros in the second quarter last year.
Munich Re’s quarterly results were also hit by claims of 35 million euros for tornadoes that swept through southern US States and 45 million euros for floods in Canada.