BERLIN, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Net profits at German reinsurer Munich Re fell 23 percent in the first quarter of 2019, from 827 million euros (925 million U.S. dollars) to 633 million euros, the company announced on Wednesday.
The fall in profits was attributed to greater claims and expenditures. In comparison, the first quarter of 2018 had almost been free of major losses.
The German reinsurer's Q1 results were further dampened by losses for major claims from previous years. Amongst those was Typhoon Jebi which alone cost it an additional 267 million euros.
"Munich Re continues to grow organically in its core business of property-casualty reinsurance. The April renewals were the sixth consecutive round of renewals in which we are able to expand our business robustly in some areas," said Christoph Jurecka, the company's chief financial officer (CFO).
Following the worldwide flight ban of Boeing's 737 Max 8 after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, Jurecka said in a telephone conference with journalists that the maximum cost for Munich Re would be at around 150 million euros.
According to Jurecka, the expected burden for Munich Re was split into passenger liability as well as cost associated with the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Reinsurance, the company's core business, contributed to 87 percent of profits, with the remaining 13 percent coming from their ERGO property casualty insurance division.
Munich Re left its profit guidance for 2019 unchanged at around 2.5 billion euros. (one euro currently equals to 1.12 U.S. dollars)
