Finance
German reinsurers post profit falls after $1.9 billion Los Angeles fire claims
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Munich Re and Hannover Re report profit declines due to $1.9 billion in claims from Los Angeles wildfires, highlighting climate change risks.
By Tom Sims and Alexander Hübner
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's largest reinsurers, Munich Re and Hannover Re, reported sharp declines in first-quarter profit on Tuesday after a combined 1.7 billion euros ($1.89 billion) in claims relating to the Los Angeles wildfires this year.
The wildfires killed nearly 30 people and damaged more than 16,000 structures, charring an area bigger than Paris.
"The devastating wildfires in California are another example of how climate change is exacerbating the risks of extreme weather events," said Hannover Re Chief Executive Clemens Jungsthoefel.
Nevertheless, both companies said they were sticking to full-year profit forecasts.
Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, said net profit in the reported quarter was 1.094 billion euros, down from 2.115 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had forecast net profit of 1.112 billion euros.
The company retained its 2025 net profit forecast, however, projecting a rise to 6 billion euros from 5.7 billion euros in 2024.
Rival Hannover Re reported a 14% profit decline on Tuesday, citing 631 million euros in wildfire-related claims.
Hannover's quarterly profit dropped to 480 million euros, down from 558 million euros a year earlier. That is slightly above analyst expectations of 447 million euros.
($1 = 0.8999 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Alexander HuebnerEditing by Friederike Heine, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David Goodman)
The article discusses profit declines of German reinsurers Munich Re and Hannover Re due to claims from Los Angeles wildfires.
The claims from the Los Angeles wildfires amounted to $1.9 billion.
The wildfires killed nearly 30 people, damaged over 16,000 structures, and highlighted climate change risks.
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