Earnings figures released by Munich RE showed that the firm had to pay 2.7 billion euros (3.19 billion U.S. dollars) to customers in Q3 for damage caused by recent hurricanes “Harvey”, “Irma”, and “Maria”. As a consequence, one of the world’s largest reinsurance company posted an overall loss of 1.4 billion euros between July and September.

“High costs caused by extreme natural catastrophes are part of our business; that is what we are there for,” chief financial officer Joerg Schneider said in a statement.

However, analysts had expected Munich RE to be slightly less exposed to recent events, leading the price of its shares to plummet by 1.8 percent.

According to estimates by industry experts, “Harvey”, “Irma” and “Maria” have so far cost global insurance and reinsurance companies 100 billion dollars in total.

Munich RE further warned that only a small annual profit was likely to be achieved in 2017 as a consequence of related financial pressures in Q3. The firm last posted an annual loss in 2003.

Nevertheless, Schneider emphasized that the quarterly losses did not affect Munich RE’s capital base which remained “very strong.”

“We continue to offer our customers the full reinsurance capacity,” Schneider added.

Munich RE stressed that it had sufficient capital and would therefore continue with an ongoing share-buyback program. Furthermore, Schneider expressed confidence that the industry’s unusual current state offered the firm opportunities for “profitable growth.”

Reinsurance companies are hopeful that they will be able to raise prices for protection from natural catastrophes due to the recent global uptick in such events compared to previous years. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars)