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Frankfurt - German reinsurance giant Munich Re said on Thursday that its profits were up strongly in the second quarter and the company was on track to meet its full-year targets.
Munich Re said in a statement that its net profit jumped by 44.9% to €765m in the period from April to June.
Underlying or operating profit soared by 62.2% to €1.145bn, while gross premium income declined by 7.4% to €11.856bn.
CEO Nikolaus von Bomhard said he was "satisfied with the result" and "despite the difficult business environment ... was optimistic about achieving the profit target of €3.0bn for the year."
In terms of gross premium income, Munich Re is pencilling in a full-year total of €48bn, the statement said.
"Munich Re expects a continuation of the low interest-rate levels in 2014 and hence somewhat lower regular income from fixed-interest investments," it said.
Reinsurance companies specialise in taking on part of the risks underwritten by mainstream insurance groups, thereby spreading risk.
On Wednesday, another European leader in the field, Swiss Re, said on that its net profit rose by 2.0% to $802m in the second quarter.
The figure fell short of a consensus forecast by analysts polled by Swiss financial newswire AWP, who had tipped the group to make an average of $894m.
Premiums rose by 11% to $7.5bn, Swiss Re, said, in a statement.
