Munich Re Posts Drop In Q4 Earnings, Lifts Dividend

Germany's Munich Re AG reported a 42% drop in its fourth-quarter earnings and announced its plans to lift the dividend for 2014. Munich Re's quarterly net profit dropped to about 700 million euros ($793 million), versus a year-ago profit of around EUR1.2 billion. Its operating profit slipped 46% to about EUR700 million in the quarter, while gross premium revenue shrank to EUR12 billion from EUR12.5 billion. Full-year net profit fell to EUR3.2 billion from EUR3.3 billion in 2013 The company announced its plans to raise its dividend to EUR7.75 per share versus EUR7.25 per share in 2013. CFO Jörg Schneider said, "With this good result, we have once again demonstrated our robust earnings strength. It is especially pleasing that all business fields have contributed to this success again in the past year."