Munich Higher prices and more contracts in property insurance are driving profits at Allianz, Germany’s largest insurance group. The operating result improved in the second quarter by five percent to 3.5 billion euros, as Allianz announced on Friday in Munich. It thus exceeded the forecasts of analysts, which had averaged just under 3.3 billion euros.
CEO Oliver Bäte spoke of a “solid financial performance”. The alliance is “well positioned to deal with the effects of high inflation and economic pressures, which are particularly felt in Europe”.
The insurer confirmed its operating profit forecast for the current year of 12.4 to 14.4 billion euros. Half of the average was reached after six months, said CFO Giulio Terzariol. He was “remaining confident about our long-term growth path”.
Allianz’s turnover – the sum of premium income and fund fees – rose by eight percent to 37.1 billion euros in the second quarter. The property and casualty line recorded the largest increase with an increase of 16 percent. Around half of the currency-adjusted growth in the division can be attributed to price effects, the insurer explained. Only in property business was the operating result higher than a year ago at 1.6 (1.4) billion euros.
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Life insurance, on the other hand, suffered from the fluctuating markets, which weighed on investment margins. The downward trend in the financial markets also affected the asset management division. The asset managers Pimco and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) received less success commissions.
Scandal overshadows first quarter
In addition, investors withdrew 34 billion euros between April and June. As a result, and due to price losses, the assets managed for third parties shrank by almost 200 billion to 1.77 trillion euros.
The scandal surrounding billions in losses by US investors with hedge funds from the asset management subsidiary AllianzGI overshadowed the first quarter. After Allianz set aside 5.6 billion euros for this, net profit after third-party shares halved to 2.27 (2021: 4.79) billion euros in the first half of the year.
A good EUR 100 million in charges were incurred in the second quarter in connection with the winding up of AllianzGI’s US business, which the US authorities had requested. A large part of the employees there will lose their jobs.
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