Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, reported today that its fourth-quarter profit rose sharply.

Profit rocketed to 306 million euro ($409.1 million) from 53 million euro, last year. For the full 2004 year, the company earned 1.83 billion euro, compared with a loss of 434 million euro in the previous year. Gross premium income dropped to 9.14 billion euro from 9.77 billion euro.