HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - Higher premiums and fewer major claims have given the Talanx insurance group a brilliant start to the year. Above all, industrial insurance under the HDI brand and private and corporate insurance abroad boosted net income by more than a third in the first quarter. When presenting the quarterly report on Wednesday, CEO Torsten Leue was therefore more confident that the Group would be able to "significantly" exceed its profit target of more than 1.7 billion euros. Talanx had already announced the unexpectedly high quarterly profit of 572 million euros at the end of April.

In the first quarter, more than half of the profit again came from Hannover Re, the world's third-largest reinsurer, in which Talanx holds a majority stake. It alone contributed 305 million euros. In HDI's private and corporate customer business in Germany, net income grew year-on-year from 40 to 43 million euros.

Meanwhile, the Talanx Group, including Hannover Re, increased its insurance turnover by nine percent to 11.65 billion euros. Income from foreign private and corporate customer business grew particularly strongly. Talanx benefited from strong growth in Poland and Brazil. In Brazil, the acquired business of insurer Liberty Mutual was also included in the figures for the first time.

In the overall property and casualty business of the Talanx Group, a larger proportion of income now remained as underwriting profit than in the previous year: the combined ratio increased from 93.5 to 90.9 percent./stw/men/he