reported first-quarterconsolidated result attributable to equity holders of €430 million, down from€790 million in the same period a year ago.
EPSdropped to €2.65 from €4.71.
The companysaid the result was "below our expectations," adding that the firstquarter was marked by a below-average random incidence of major losses, as wellas strains on its investment result and expenditure for one-off effects in theERGO Group AGbusiness. ERGO reported a consolidated loss of €25 million, compared to ayear-ago profit of €102 million.
MunichRe's first-quarter investment result reached €1.57 billion, down year over yearfrom €1.82 billion, as the return on investment declined to 2.7% from 3.0%. Theinsurance-related investment loss amounted to €208 million, compared to ayear-ago income of €579 million.
Grosspremiums written amounted to €12.51 billion in the first quarter, compared to€13.04 billion in the year-ago period. Net earned premiums declined to €11.34billion from €11.86 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
Netexpenses for claims and benefits narrowed year over year to €8.97 billion from€10.20 billion. Munich Re's technical result in the first quarter was €945million, up from €912 million a year ago.
ROEreached 5.6% in the first quarter, down from 9.7% in the same period in 2015.The combined ratio in its P&C reinsurance division was 88.4%, compared to92.3% in the first quarter of 2015.
Thecompany said it expects to report a full-year consolidated profit of €2.3billion, at the lower end of its original target range of €2.3 billion to €2.8 billion. Munich Reexpects expenditures for implementing ERGO's strategy program to keep the unitfrom achieving a profit in 2016.
Thefirm also now projects a P&C reinsurance combined ratio of about 95% of netearned premiums, down from an earlier expectation of 98%. March and Aprilproduced significantly fewer major losses than expected, Munich Re said, andprovisions for claims from prior years were also lower than expected, promptingan increase in expected reserve releases for such claims to 6 percentage pointsfrom 4 percentage points.