Frankfurt - Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurance companies, on Tuesday posted a second-quarter net profit that beat expectations and said it had suffered limited effects from the global economic crisis.

The group reported a 14-percent rise in net profit to ?691-million (R7.76-billion), from ?606-million in the same period 12 months earlier.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected net profit to remain stable at around ?606-million.

Munich Re also raised slightly its full-year target for gross premiums, the sector benchmark on which it bases its annual forecasts.

Chairman Nikolaus von Bomhard said in a statement: "We were able to benefit further from our capital strength and exploit our scope for profitable growth.

"We regard the effects of the economic crisis as limited in extent for the Munich Re Group."

Gross premiums gained 14.6 percent to ?10.326-billion, better than an average analyst forecast for ?9.8-billion, while the group's operating profit jumped by 26.2 percent to ?1.373-billion.

The reinsurer said it expected gross premiums in both primary insurance and reinsurance to range between ?40-?42-billion, up from a previous forecast of ?39-?41-billion which was itself the result of an initial upward revision in May.

But Munich Re warned that "uncertainties resulting from the economic crisis continue to apply to both underwriting business and investments, making a forecast for the 2009 annual result particularly difficult."

It nonetheless reiterated a target of a 15 percent return on risk-adjusted capital, saying the goal is "ambitious ... but still achievable."

For the first half of 2009, the group posted a net profit of ?1.1-billion, a substantial drop of 19.4 percent from the first six months of 2008.

Munich Re got a small second-quarter boost from its new US acquisition, the Hartford Steam Boiler Group, which contributed ?173-million in gross premium income, the statement said.

It decreased the value of its assets by relatively modest €125-million, noting that in the second quarter of 2008 it "had had to absorb substantial write-downs on its equity portfolio" of ?660-million.

Von Bomhard said: "It is evident that we are faring well with the broad diversification of our business across business fields and regions."

Shares in the reinsurance giant gained 1.13 percent to ?105.89 in early trades on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the DAX index on which they are listed was 0.35 percent lower overall.