Property/casualty drives growth in Allianz

Allianz enjoyed a strong first quarter with its profits and revenues growing driven by its property/casualty segments especially the divisions Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Allianz Worldwide Partners, Germany and Latin America.

The company’s total revenues increased by 11.2 percent and reached €37.8 billion while its net profit attributable to shareholders rose by 11 percent to hit €1.82 billion.

Allianz also confirmed an anticipated operating profit outlook for 2015 of €10.4 billion, plus/minus €400 million.

“Allianz achieved very good results in the first quarter compared to last year’s already strong first quarter. While it is a promising start, the challenge of the current low-interest rate environment remains. However, we are well prepared for the rest of 2015,” said Dieter Wemmer, chief financial officer of Allianz.

Gross premiums written in property/casualty insurance reached €17.34 billion compared with €15.22 billion in the first quarter of 2015, an increase of 13.9 percent year-on-year.

This unit’s operating profit declined 13.7 percent to €1.28 billion mainly because of a higher impact from natural catastrophes as well as restructuring expenses following the sale of the private lines of Fireman’s Fund.

The unit’s quarterly combined ratio increased by 2 percentage points to 94.6 percent. Claims from natural catastrophes amounted to €222 million , or 1.9 percentage points. In particular the storms Elon and Felix in January as well as Niklas and Mike in March had an impact on results.

“Despite our repositioning in Russia and the United States, internal growth was strong,” said Dieter Wemmer. “Claims from natural catastrophes were substantially higher than last year, affecting operating profit. Total natural catastrophe and weather-related losses were roughly in line with expectations.”