Hannover Re, one of the world's leading reinsurers, has reported a strong start to 2026, continuing positive trends from recent quarters, despite the uncertainties created by the Middle East conflict.
Hannover Re CEO Mr Clemens Jungsthofel said in an earnings call, “We are operating in an unstable geopolitical environment. The Iran war, with its severe implications for people across the region as well as for global economies, is contributing to elevated uncertainty. The impact on insurance and reinsurance from these ongoing events also remains uncertain. As it is not yet possible to come up with reliable estimates, we have not yet booked any precise amounts as a large loss estimate.
“So far, we have received only, I would say, a minimal number of claims notifications from our clients. We do expect to have some exposure. However, we feel comfortable that any losses that may potentially have occurred will be more than covered by the unused part of our large loss budget in the first quarter.”
In the first quarter, 2026, the reinsurer posted a group net income of EUR711m ($834.4m), a jump of 47.9% from the EUR480.5m reported for 1Q2025. Reinsurance revenue (gross) on the Group level reached EUR6.5bn in 1Q2026 (1Q2025: EUR7.0bn). Reinsurance revenue would have grown by 0.6% at constant exchange rates. Life and health reinsurance contributed currency-adjusted growth of 15.0%. Property and casualty reinsurance experienced a decline in revenue of 4.7% at unchanged exchange rates.
The reinsurance service result (net), reflecting the profitability of underwriting activity less business ceded (primarily retrocessions and insurance-linked securities), increased significantly by 72.9% to EUR890.2m (1Q2025: EUR514.8m). This had been influenced in the previous year’s period by the exceptional large losses caused by wildfires in California
Mr Jungsthofel said, “Underlying profitability was very pleasing in both business groups and the balance sheet, and the resilience of Hannover Rück (Hannover Re) have clearly been further strengthened. This will support sustainable earnings growth and will help to manage volatility going forward.”