Hannover Re's core earnings dented by property, casualty reserves

(Reuters) -German reinsurer Hannover Re reported a drop in its 2023 core earnings on Tuesday, saying it had been hit by an increase in reserves in its property and casualty business.

Hannover Re posted annual operating earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 1.97 billion euros ($2.12 billion), below the 2.4 billion euros expected in a company-provided consensus.

"An increase in reserves in Property & Casualty reinsurance had a significant impact on EBIT, particularly in the fourth quarter, which led to a much greater increase in the confidence level of reserves than originally planned," it said.

However, Hannover Re said in a preliminary earnings statement that its net income rose to 1.8 billion euros, beating both the reinsurer's guidance and consensus estimates, due to a one-off tax reduction.

Hannover Re is due to release full results on March 18.

($1 = 0.9301 euros)

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev; Editing by Emma-Victoria Farr, Alison Williams and Alexander Smith)