P/C unit drives strong growth in Allianz Q1 results despite market volatility
Allianz enjoyed a strong first quarter with both revenue and profits increasing sharply driven by its property/casualty segment, which posted strong premium growth, lower claims from natural catastrophes and an improved expense ratio.
The insurer made a net profit of €2 billion, a 1.6 percent increase on the same period a year earlier; its operating profit increased by 7.5 percent to reach €3 billion. It noted that its higher operating profit was largely offset by lower non-operating investment income and, to a lesser extent, higher taxes.
The company’s revenues grew by 9.1 percent to reach €40.3 billion. It said the first quarter results put it on track to meet its 2019 full-year targets, which include making an operating profit of €11.5 billion, plus or minus €500 million.
“Allianz achieved strong results in the first quarter putting the group on track to meet its 2019 full-year targets,” said Oliver Bäte, CEO of Allianz. “Our customers continue to seek quality and service, both of which we are consistently focusing on. Despite economic and political volatility, we are very well positioned to further develop our franchise.”
In its property/casualty unit alone, total revenues increased by 6.3 percent to €19.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted for foreign currency translation and consolidation effects, internal growth totaled 4.6 percent, with volume and price effects contributing 2.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively. Internal growth was observed in many countries with main drivers being AGCS, Germany, and Allianz Partners, the company said.
The operating profit of this segment increased by 14.2 percent to €1.455 billion compared to the first quarter of 2018. This increase was primarily due to a higher underwriting result driven by strong premium growth in combination with fewer losses from natural catastrophes and improvements in our expense ratio. The combined ratio improved by 1.1 percentage points to 93.7 percent.
“I am pleased by the healthy revenue growth of the Property-Casualty business segment in the quarter, which reflects the good positioning of our global franchise,” said Giulio Terzariol, CFO of Allianz. “The strong combined ratio is well supported by our ongoing efforts to improve productivity.”
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