After the reinsurer company reported a sharp decline in its net profit in the first quarter, shares of Munich Re’ were trading at approximately %Five is down. The net result was €1.09 billion in the first quarter of 2025’. This figure is compared to the previous year's 2.12 billion euros. According to the quarterly report of the German reinsurer company, the decline in earnings was mainly due to major damages and fluctuations in capital markets.
The wildfires in Los Angeles’ were the main source of a major spending loss, costing the company 1.1 billion Euro’.
Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re’nin's latest Natural Disaster and Climate ReportAccording to ’, the Los Angeles wildfires caused an estimated $65 billion in economic losses and up to $40 billion in in insured losses.
Christoph Jurecka, CFO’ of Munich Re’, “Munich Re, January 2025Although ’te did not emerge unscathed from the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles’, we still managed to make a profit of 1.1 billion euros every three months, ” said. “This is an example of the resilience of the Munich Re Group, which is once again strengthened by the prudent management of our business portfolio.’
Beyond the losses caused by wildfires in ’, the company's investment result also downgraded the overall result; mainly due to noticeable fluctuations in interest rates, in the first three months it decreased from 2.16 billion Euro’ in the previous year to 1.32 billion Euro’.
The company also lost half a billion euros in currency exchange, mainly due to the weakening dollar.
Insurance revenue from insurance contracts increased to 15.8 billion Euro’. In this segment, ERGO, which belongs to the group, one of the largest insurance groups in Europe’, provided one-third of this revenue and showed strong growth, especially in international business. Ergo International, Munich Re’'s revenue among its divisions compared to the previous year %It was the fastest company to increase by 8.8 percent.
ERGO recently gained access to the U.S. small business insurance market following Munich Re’'s acquisition of Next Insurance’ in March. This can increase the overall earnings of Munich Re’, which has just confirmed its financial outlook.
Jurecka, “Thanks to the ongoing positive market conditions and the high quality of our portfolio, we remain committed to our profit target of 6 billion Euro’ for fiscal year 2025, ” said.
Last year saw a recovery in private equity deals in the travel industry in line with rising demand for travel. This was mainly driven by the ongoing recovery in destinations in the Pacific and Asia’, as well as strong performance from major sourcing markets.
2024Fourteen private equity deals worth a total of $822.9 million (€724.4 million) were signed in the European tourism and entertainment sector in the second quarter of ’.
German automaker Volkswagen AG announced its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday; operating profit is approximated annually as the company continues to grapple with the impact of U.S. tariffs declined to 2.9 billion Euro’.
Sales revenue in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2024 %It increased by 3 to 78 billion Euro’.
2025In the first three months of ’, 2024According to the first quarter of ’ %Approximately 2.1 million vehicles were sold with an increase of 1 million.
Global share of battery electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries on an annual basis %the 6’ Raised to ’a.
Western Europe’'s share of Volkswagen’in BEV deliveries %the 9’ He ascended to ’; One out of every four BEV’s recorded in the first quarter came from the Volkswagen Group’.
The car industry worldwide is significantly vulnerable to current tariffs on US ’'s car imports, especially due to the globalization of car supply chains. This means that many automakers depend significantly on production facilities outside the U.S.
Although Trump is present this week to make it easier for manufacturers to avoid high tariffs %Although 25’ cars have changed their tariffs, companies are already affected. In addition, it may take more time for the full size of this tariff discount to be reflected in the sector.
Volkswagen AG’nin CFO’su and COO’su Arno Antlitz said in the first-quarter earnings statement posted on the company's website: “As expected, the Volkswagen Group made a mixed start to the financial year . Our cars are very well received. Western EuropeOrder intake has increased significantly in ’, and our order books are filling up quickly.”
Antlitz pointed out that one out of every five cars sold in the Western European ’ is now fully electric.
He added: At the same time, the market success of our electric cars puts pressure on our results. An operating margin of around 4% makes it clear that we still have considerable business ahead of us.’
He also stressed the importance of focusing on leverages under the company's control in the face of volatile global economic conditions. He said that in order to increase the chances of success in rapidly changing market conditions, the firm needs to complement its wide range of products with a competitive cost base.
When it comes to next year's outlook, the Volkswagen Group is looking at the previous year's figure of sales. %He expects it to exceed 5’.
The firm is likely to reap the return on activity from sales. %From 5.5 to %He said it would be between 6.5, but this guide does not include any influence from the current tariffs.
This year's automotive net cash flow is estimated at between €2 billion and €5 billion, while the automotive sector's net liquidity is expected to be between €34 billion and €37 billion.
The company said in its earnings press release: “28 April 2025Based on developments in the period up to ’, the Volkswagen Group expects operating sales return, automotive net cash flow and net liquidity to trend towards the lower end of the respective ranges. It remains the group's goal to maintain a strong financing and liquidity policy.”
Bosnia is a transit country for migrants trying to reach the European Union, but the external border of the European Union is closed. This situation has caused thousands of migrants to be in a difficult situation. Hundreds of them, like Salman and his brothers, barely sleep in abandoned buildings, makeshift tents, and even old freight cars. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, temperatures in winter are well below zero. So why aren't these people being placed in emergency shelters?
Impact on mental health
Salman tells me that some of his travel companions had mental health problems on their journey from Pakistan to Bosnia. Middle-class families are saving thousands of euros to send their sons to Europe. But now they are halfway there, there is no way forward or back, they are crushed by the guilt of having failed their families at home.
Salman and his brothers are among a group of Pakistani migrants who have been stranded in the Tuzla region for a year and a half. They've been living in an abandoned freight car for seven months. They tried to cross the Bosnian-Croatian border several times, but failed. They say they will try again, and if they fail, they will choose to return to Pakistan. According to them, this puts their families at great risk. It cost between 3,000 and 4,000 euros per person to bring them all the way here, and many families owed to raise that money.
Local authorities refuse to open a migrant camp in the Tuzla region, but the city remains an important transit area between Serbia and Croatia.
Charities fill the gap
NGOs such as EMMAUS come into play and offer migrants an environment where they can warm up. Most of them are economic immigrants from Pakistan or North Africa, like Brahim Radi and his Algerian friends. He tried to cross the Croatian border many times. He told me a Croatian border guard broke his tooth with a baton. He thinks some of them lost their eyes and broke their ribs as they confronted the border guards.
In Emmaus ⁇ ta, immigrants can shower and wear clean clothes. Dzeneta Delic-Sadikovic is a young lawyer, managing Emmaus ⁇ u in Tuzla ⁇ . He's telling me this: The problem of violence on the Croatian-Bosnian border must end. These people do not want to stay here, a solution must be found for them to leave Bosnia and turn to Europe.
Lipa
We went to Camp Lipa, which burned at Christmas in western Bosnia. The investigation is ongoing to determine who started the fire, but there is no answer to this question for now.
Camp Lipa was set up for the summer. Local authorities have failed to make it winter-friendly. The International Organization for Migration recognized this and withdrew from operations there. The Bosnian government has found another place for this near Sarajevo. Local protests, however, made the transfer impossible. To prevent people from freezing to death, the Ministry of the Interior stepped in and set up heated tents.
Suleiman Shahid is a Pakistani immigrant. He was a civil engineer back home. He's been at Camp Lipa for four months. Euronews found his team filming in the camp and offered us homemade food. That's when he says they have to walk two kilometers to get to drinking water. He tells them that only ⁇ 33 to 45 people are given three bottles of water ⁇ per day.
There are currently around 9,000 migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU ambassador in Sarajevo told us that finding shelter for them should not be a difficult task and urged the authorities to step up the action.
For now, however, migrants have to go to a local water source to bathe. No hot water. Ziaullah Zaheer is an Afghan immigrant. He is one of the official speakers of immigrants in Lipa ⁇ . He says AB ⁇ needs to take serious steps to help migrants. Zaheer left Afghanistan because he was the target of fighter groups. One of his brothers lost an eye in the violence in his hometown. He wants to go to Europe for a safer life.
A dysfunctional system
The EU transfers about 20m euros to Bosnia and Herzegovina every year. Money was supposed to be used for migration management, but dysfunctional government structures in the country often hinder it. Decisions of the federal government may be blocked by local authorities. Some regions in the country refuse to bear any burdens related to housing for migrants.
A border town camp
We set off for Bihac ⁇ a, close to the Croatian border, where there are about 60 occupied houses. The International Organization for Migration is delivering food to them. Natasa Omerovic, who works for the international organization, says that the situation is dire, serious and these people need basic living conditions, (...) nearly 1000 ⁇ people live in slums in places and buildings all over the region.
Beer is an old refrigerator factory. Until last September, it was used as a temporary camp housing 2,000 migrants. But the locals were upset by the escalation of thefts, and that's not all. Seid Sehic, who lives near the old camp, describes the traumatic event he experienced while planting potatoes:
5 immigrants came to my garden and one of them had a long knife in his hand and attacked me, luckily the knife did not enter my stomach, it just ran over my dress. I pulled back and took the pitchfork that was on the ground. I hit the immigrant who was trying to stab me and told him to put the knife down.
We discussed the immigration issue with the Prime Minister of the Una-Sana canton, which also includes Bihac ⁇ . A senior diplomat said that we should not forget one thing about Mustafa Ruzniç ⁇ : He's a man who's ready for immigrants to freeze to death. It legitimizes this harsh anti-immigrant stance due to security concerns and numerous crimes committed by immigrants in its territory. He tells us: In the canton of Una Sana, there are constant fights between Pashtuns and Hazaras, between Shiites and Sunnis. In the last three years, these immigrants have committed more than 3200 crimes. These crimes include rapes, migrant murders and numerous attempted murders of our citizens. They're arsonists and they're breaking into private houses. All migrants who roam our city need to be deported, they are here illegally, he said.
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His attitude towards immigrants is unlikely to change. This may explain why there are ⁇ KAMP YOK ⁇ billboards at the entrance to the Beer camp and why angry locals oppose the reopening of the fully equipped campsite.
Also in April last year, Bihac ⁇ ta had a major fight between rival migrant groups. 450 people participated. The camp was closed in September, but the entire infrastructure is still there. The EU has proposed reopening the facility to address the urgent problem of migrants sleeping outside in the middle of winter. But local decision-makers vetoed it. IOM executive Natasa Omerovic tells us how tragic this is:
⁇ This place is available in 24 hours, ready. We have a total of 250 accommodation units and each accommodation unit can accommodate 6 people, which gives us the number of 1500 people who can accommodate in this camp ⁇ he said.
IOM staff helped 303 migrants stranded last year return to their homes. They help voluntary returnees with logistics and plane tickets.
