Hannover Rück : PDF (481 KB)

Half-yearly Financial Report 2022

Key figures

in EUR million				2022							2021
		1.1.-		1.4.-		+/-		1.1.-		+/-		1.4.-		1.1.-	31.12.
		31.3.	30.6.		previous	30.6.		previous	30.6.	30.6.
						year				year
Results
Gross written premium		9,333.4		8,008.9		+20.3%		17,342.4		+19.9%		6,655.3		14,464.6
Net premium earned		6,710.2		7,056.5		+21.2%		13,766.7		+19.6%		5,822.6		11,515.3
Net underwriting result ¹		(102.0)		62.2		-37.1%		(39.8)		-132.0%		98.9		124.3
Net investment income		483.9		496.1		+16.8%		980.0		+13.2%		424.7		865.8
Operating profit (EBIT)		396.4		522.9		-5.3%		919.3		-3.9%		552.3		956.1
Group net income		263.6		385.1		+5.6%		648.7		-3.3%		364.7		670.6
Balance sheet
Policyholders' surplus		14,464.9						12,661.1		-19.5%				14,859.2		15,733.6
Equity attributable to sharehold-
ers of Hannover Rück SE		10,694.6						8,969.3		-24.5%			11,050.6	11,885.0
Non-controlling interests		792.1						712.6		-18.2%				831.7		871.2
Hybrid capital		2,978.2						2,979.2		+0.1%				2,976.9		2,977.4
Investments (excl. Funds withheld
by ceding companies)		56,245.2						56,230.5		+0.0%			52,847.7	56,213.2
Total assets		86,307.1						87,802.8		+5.9%				78,099.2		82,902.3
Share
Earnings per share (basic and di-
luted) in EUR		2.19		3.19		+5.6%		5.38		-3.3%	3.02	5.56
Book value per share in EUR		88.68						74.37		-24.5%				91.63		98.55
Share price at the end of the pe-
riod in EUR	154.35						138.50		-17.1%			141.10	167.15
Market capitalisation at the end of
the period	18,614.2						16,702.7		-17.1%			17,016.3	20,157.8
Ratios
Combined ratio (property and ca-
sualty reinsurance) ¹	99.5%		98.6%				99.0%			95.7%	96.0%
Large losses as percentage of net
premium earned (property and ca-
sualty reinsurance) ²		7.0%		10.2%				8.7%			3.3%	4.2%
Retention		92.0%		89.7%				90.9%				89.2%		90.4%
Return on investment (excl. funds
withheld by ceding companies)		3.1%		3.0%				3.0%			2.9%	2.7%
EBIT margin ³		5.9%		7.4%				6.7%				9.5%		8.3%
Return on equity (after tax)		9.3%		15.7%				12.4%				13.2%		12.2%		10.8%

¹ Including interest on funds withheld and contract deposits

• Hannover Re Group's net share for natural catastrophes and other major losses in excess of EUR 10 million gross as a percentage of net premium earned ³ Operating result (EBIT)/net premium earned

2	Hannover Re | Half yearly Financial Report 2022

Hannover Re | Half yearly Financial Report 2022

3

Jean-Jacques Henchoz

Chairman of the

Executive Board

Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen,

Russia's attack on Ukraine has left us all appalled and pushed other major issues such as the pandemic or natural disasters and climate change into the background. I continue to express our deep sympathy to the people of Ukraine. The suffering and devastation in their country are hard to comprehend, and this attack in the heart of Europe has shaken the foundation of peaceful togetherness as well as our values of freedom, democracy and human rights. We can only hope that this war will end soon.

As a gesture of solidarity we were quick to make a donation for those who have been impacted, and it fills me with pride to see the selfless engagement shown by so many of our employees through their own efforts. We support them in any way we can.

Despite war, pandemic and other challenges, we were able to generate a satisfactory result in the first half of 2022 thanks to our prudent risk and capital management.

Our consistently strong and profitable growth shows just how sought-after Hannover Re's reinsurance protection is among our clients in difficult times. This year's treaty renewals in property and casualty reinsurance have been an impressive testimony to this. What is more, the positive pricing momentum has been sustained - also in response to rising inflation. Even though it is difficult to assess the direct and indirect impacts of the war at this time and both geopolitical and economic uncertainties have risen overall, we are thus well on track to achieve our ambitious goals for the current financial year.

4	Hannover Re | Half yearly Financial Report 2022

Permit me, if I may, to briefly shed some light on two aspects of our risk management. In view of the recent sharp surge in inflation rates our investments are currently benefiting from the holding of inflation-linked bonds that we had already built up some years ago. As far as the costs of the excess mortality connected with the Covid-19 pandemic are concerned, we are helped by an extreme mortality cover that we had similarly taken out years ago as partial protection against such events. This prudent approach to risk management that we have put in place for ourselves is something that we also offer our customers.

Along with risk management, capital management is another of Hannover Re's outstanding strengths. In the first half-year we generated a return of 3 percent on our investments, a highly gratifying performance given the turmoil on international financial markets. With a capital adequacy ratio under Solvency II of 235.1 percent at the end of June, our financial position is clearly above the target level as usual and our return on equity of 12.4 percent continues to comfortably outperform our target figure. It remains the case, therefore, that our appeal is not only as a financially robust and reliable reinsurance partner for our clients, but also as a provider of consistent and attractive returns and dividends for our shareholders.

I would also not wish to omit mention of our latest sustainability report, which we published last month. One aspect here, namely the adjustment to climate change, presents a major social and economic challenge that we must all face up to. Our sustainability report offers a detailed account of the progress made by Hannover Re towards achieving net zero and the other goals that we have set ourselves above and beyond this. Among other measures, we have now agreed additional exclusions relating to oil and gas after the coverage exclusions already implemented for thermal coal and we continue to systematically pursue our targets for CO2 reduction in our business operations. In this context, we intend not only to minimise our emissions but also to act on opportunities arising out of the transformation to a less resource-intensive economy.

In closing, I would like to convey my thanks - also on behalf of the entire Executive Board - to our employees, whose unfailing dedication in these challenging times is the decisive factor in our success. Special thanks also go out to you, our shareholders, for the trust you place in us. Going forward, as we have in the past, we shall do everything in our power to live up to this trust. As one of the most profitable reinsurers in the world, it remains our goal to play an important part in mitigating the financial consequences of catastrophic events in order to make all our lives more secure and to make the unpredictable more manageable.

I would like to end by expressing the hope that I will not have to dwell on any new unwelcome surprises and human tragedies in my next letter to shareholders. Whatever the future may hold in store for us, these are the uncertainties that we - as a reinsurer - must manage through our work so as to make them manageable for our clients.

Yours sincerely,

Jean-Jacques Henchoz

Chairman of the Executive Board

Hannover Re | Half yearly Financial Report 2022

5