HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - The insurance group Talanx (HDI) is stepping up the pace on its way to further record profits. After CEO Torsten Leue has already raised his profit forecast for 2023 to well over 1.5 billion euros, he wants to exceed the previous target of 1.6 billion euros for 2025 as early as next year. Group profit is set to climb to more than 1.7 billion euros in 2024, Talanx announced when presenting its quarterly figures in Hanover on Monday. The news was well received on the stock market.

In the morning, the Talanx share rose by a good two percent to 60.65 euros, making it one of the strongest stocks in the MDax, the index of medium-sized stocks. Compared to the turn of the year, the share has already gained around 37 percent. However, it is still some way off its record high of EUR 65.85 from September, after the management temporarily sent the share price downwards with a capital increase.

By issuing new shares, the Management Board wanted to increase the proportion of shares in free float. Even now, more than three quarters of the insurance group is still owned by the Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie, a mutual insurance association.

In view of the increased profit expectations, shareholders can already hope for a slightly higher dividend for 2023 than before. The increased forecast naturally increases the scope for a higher payout, explained CFO Jan Wicke in a conference call for journalists. So far, Talanx has held out the prospect of a dividend of more than 2 euros per share - by 2025, the payout is to rise to 2.50 euros per share.

However, how much there will be for 2023 will not be decided until the annual balance sheet in March, said Wicke. The Executive Board also intends to announce a new profit target for 2025 at that time, as the previous target is obsolete with the increase planned for 2024.

In the third quarter, Talanx earned a bottom line of 452 million euros, 88 percent more than a year earlier. After the first nine months, the company already has a profit of just under 1.3 billion euros. In the third quarter, the insurer absorbed high natural catastrophe losses from the forest fires in Hawaii, the summer storms in northern Italy and the earthquake in Morocco.

While the summer storms "Denis" and "Erwin" in particular took their toll on the profits of the largest German insurer Allianz, Talanx and its main brand HDI got off lightly with these natural catastrophes. This is certainly also due to the fact that the company does not have such a strong presence in southern Germany, explained Wicke. The storms there had caused severe damage. At Talanx, the only storm to make it onto the list of major losses in Germany in the third quarter was "Lambert" with 21.5 million euros.

In total, Talanx had to spend 1.6 billion euros on major claims in the first nine months of the year, almost 300 million euros less than in the previous year. At that time, the Group had set aside 361 million euros for the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in the Ukraine. However, the next major loss is already looming: The destruction caused by hurricane "Otis" is likely to cost the Group more than 100 million euros net, estimates Wicke.

The Talanx figures include Hannover Re, the world's third-largest reinsurer, in which the Group holds a good half of the shares. Like other large insurers, Talanx has been calculating its business figures in accordance with the new IFRS 17 and IRFS 9 accounting standards since this year. The previous year's figures have been adjusted accordingly.

Meanwhile, Talanx is no longer able to increase premiums for property and casualty primary insurance customers to the same extent as recently. The price increase in the third quarter was weaker than in the previous months. This is also due to the decline in high inflation rates, explained CFO Wicke. He confirmed a similar development to that recently seen at Allianz, but did not provide any figures./stw/jsl/mis