As a result of this third quarter result, Hannover projects a net income forecast for the year of approximately 350 million euros ($412.6 million).

For the third quarter, the company reported an operating profit of 213.0 million euros ($251.1 million), a 213.5 percent increase from the 67.9 million euros ($80.0 million) reported during the same period last year.

Net income (after tax) during the quarter was 94.2 million euros ($111.0 million), a 53.2 percent increase from the 61.5 million euros ($72.5 million) reported during the third quarter of 2002.

Gross written premiums during the 2003 third quarter came to 2.9 billion euros ($3.4 billion), a drop of 2.7 percent from 3.0 billion euros ($3.5 billion) reported during the same period in 2002.

As for its nine-month figures, Hannover Re Group posted an operating profit of 498.2 million euros ($587.3 million), a 41.5 percent increase from the 352.2 million euros ($415.2 million) reported last year.

Net income (after tax) during the nine months was 256.6 million euros ($302.5 million), a 23.5 percent increase from the 207.8 million euros ($245.0 million) in net income reported for the nine-month period in 2002.

Gross written premiums came to 8.9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) for the nine months, a drop of 2.8 percent from the 9.1 billion euros ($10.7 billion) reported for the same period last year.

Hannover Re attributed the decrease to movements in exchange rates. As a result, at constant exchange rates, gross premiums would have risen by 8.7 percent.

During the quarter, the company's property-casualty reinsurance business generated an operating profit of 121.4 million euros ($143.1 million), a 191.4 percent increase from the 41.7 million euros ($49.2 million) reported during the third quarter last year.

During the nine-month period, the company's p-c reinsurance business reported an operating profit of 304.0 million euros ($358.4 million) during the nine month period, a 27.8 percent drop from the 237.9 million euros ($280.4 million) reported for operating profit during the same period in 2002.

Net income (after tax) reported for the company's p-c reinsurance business came to 36.1 million euros ($42.6 million) during the third quarter, a drop of 17.8 percent from the 43.8 million euros ($51.6 million) reported for the same period last year. Net income (after tax) came to 137.4 million euros ($162.0 million) during the nine months, a 2.2 percent increase from the 134.5 million euros ($158.5 million) reported for the same period in 2002.

Gross written premiums for reinsurance during the quarter came to 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion), a 4.6 percent drop from the 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) reported during the same 2002 period. During the nine-month period, gross written premiums in its reinsurance business decreased by 15.5 percent to 4.0 billion euros ($4.7 billion) from 4.8 billion euros ($5.7 billion) reported during the same 2002 period.

Roughly half this decline was attributable to the relative appreciation of the euro, especially against the U.S. dollar.

Two additional factors contributed to this reduction in premium volume, the company said.

"Firstly, Hannover Re is no longer accepting the entire reinsurance volume of its HDI affiliates, but merely the portion that it retains," Hannover said. Secondly, the company added, "Hannover Re is focusing even more closely on profitable market segments."

The combined ratio for p-c reinsurance came to 94.9 during the third quarter, compared to 94.3 in the third quarter of 2002. The combined ratio for Hannover Re's reinsurance business during the nine-month period was 97.2, compared with 95.1 for the same period last year.

For its program business during the third quarter, the company reported an operating profit of 13.7 million euros ($16.2 million), a 19.1 percent increase from the 11.5 million euros ($13.6 million) reported during the same period in 2002. For the nine-month period, Hannover Re's program business reported an operating profit of 54.9 million euros ($64.7 million), a 13.7 percent increase from the 48.3 million euros ($56.9 million) reported for the nine-month period in 2002.

During the quarter, net income (after tax) of 15.9 million euros ($18.7 million) was reported for its program business, a 156.5 percent increase from the 6.2 million euros ($7.3 million) reported for the third quarter 2002. Net income for the company's program business during the nine-month period was 40.0 million euros (47.2 million), a 56.9 percent increase from 25.5 million euros ($30.1 million) reported for the same period in 2002.

Hannover Re's program business had a combined ratio of 99.9 during the third quarter, compared to 97.3 for the same period last year. For the nine months, the combined ratio was 96.3, compared with 92.9 for the same period in 2002.