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Favourable business development in the current year to date

Hannover, 20 July 2000:

At today's Annual General Meeting of Hannover Re the Chairman of the Executive Board, Wilhelm Zeller, provided some initial insights into the course of business during the current year. The remarkable reduction in the burden of major losses and the development of investment income, in particular, have been highly gratifying to date. In addition, the Annual General Meeting approved all the items on the agenda by a large majority, as a consequence of which the proposed replacement of bearer shares with registered shares will be completed as early as October.

Outlining the prospects for the current year and the half-year report to be published at the end of October, Mr. Zeller first commented on the growth expectations for the Hannover Re Group. Gross premium income is expected to show a further, substantially above-average organic increase of around 20%. The main growth impulses will again derive from life/health and financial reinsurance, which are expected to show gains of 36% and 48% respectively. The favourable reduction in the burden of major losses has favourably impacted technical results in property/casualty reinsurance during the first half-year. In gross terms, the level of major losses in the current year presently stands at just 8% of the total amount for the previous year. In net terms, this figure is as low as 5%. As things currently stand, the loss situation has thus reverted to the very low level of the years 1995 1997. The most significant individual loss for the company to date was an explosion at the largest oil refinery in Kuwait, with an anticipated burden of approx. EUR 21 million for Hannover Re. Nevertheless, Mr. Zeller reminded the meeting just how quickly the present favourable loss situation could change: in 1999 the winter storms Lothar and Martin caused the heaviest losses only shortly before year-end.

Following Mr. Zeller's remarks on the business development, the Annual General Meeting which was well attended by more than 700 participants approved all the items on the agenda by a large majority, notably the further increase in the dividend. The gross dividend distribution per share (incl. corporate-tax credit) will increase from EUR 2.18 to EUR 2.91, a rise of 33%. It was also decided to unify the various classes of Hannover Re shares and in future maintain only listed registered, no-par-value shares under a single security identification number. Hannover Re will thus keep pace with the current trend among listed companies towards enhancing transparency in their shareholder structure. In this way, it will be easier to maintain direct contact with shareholders, and detailed knowledge of the shareholder structure can be used to organize Investor Relations activities on an even more focused and efficient basis. It is envisaged that the official application for admission of the new shares to the stock exchange will be filed on 5 October, which would enable trading to commence on 16 October.

As successors to the departing Supervisory Board members Eberhard Wild and Rudolf Schwan, Dr. Klaus Sturany, a member of the Executive Board of RWE AG, and Karl Heinz Midunsky, a Divisional Manager at Siemens AG, were elected as new members of the Supervisory Board. In addition, Hannover Re extended until the end of next year the existing authorization to buy back shares up to an amount of 10% of the capital stock, and as a precautionary measure in anticipation of the forthcoming Registered Share Act (NaStraG = law on registered shares and to facilitate voting) the company amended its Articles of Association, for example with regard to voting over the Internet.