Australian cedants hoping for lower reinsurance costs from July 1 could be disappointed, with Munich Re expecting a “stable price” in the region’s key renewals period.

The country has once again made a significant impact on Munich Re’s claims expenditure, with January’s Queensland floods causing a loss “in the mid-double-digit million euro range”, according to the company’s first-quarter results.

However, the Asia-Pacific region provides “profitable growth opportunities”, CFO Jorg Schneider says.

There may be “slight price erosion” for natural catastrophe covers in the US from July 1 because of growing capacity, while prices “moved sideways” at the April 1 renewals.

For more on Munich Re’s first-quarter results, see INTERNATIONAL