Global insurer Allianz has announced that the strong performance of its property and casualty (P&C) business in the first-quarter of 2019 significantly contributed to a 7.5% increase in overall operating profit, to €3 billion.
The P&C segment produced robust results in the opening three months of the year for Allianz, recording a 14.2% operating profit increase to €1.5 billion, when compared with the same period in 2018. The insurer attributes the increase to strong premium growth coupled with a lower level of losses from natural catastrophe events, and also an improved expense ratio.
Within P&C, gross written premiums jumped 6.2% to almost €19 billion, while the expense ratio improved to 27.8%, and the loss ratio improved to 65.9%, year-on-year. The combined ratio for the segment strengthened to 93.7% in the first-quarter of 2019.
Giulio Terzariol, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Allianz, said: “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. The strong combined ratio is well supported by our ongoing efforts to improve productivity.”
The firm’s P&C unit also recorded higher total revenue in the first-quarter of 2019 when compared with the previous year, of €19.5 billion, with internal growth recorded in many countries, driven by AGCS, Germany, and Allianz Partners.
Combined with a slight increase in operating profit in its Life and Health business segment to €1.096 billion, the P&C segment performance in Q1 helped Allianz report operating profit of €3 billion, and net income of €2 billion. At the same time, total revenues at Allianz increased by more than 9% in the first-quarter of 2019 to €40.3 billion.
Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Allianz, commented: “Allianz achieved strong results in the first quarter putting the group on track to meet its 2019 full-year targets.
“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.”
The insurer also revealed that its third-party assets under management (AuM) increased by €112 billion in the first-quarter of 2019.
