European storms eat into Allianz profits
The severe storms in Slovenia, Austria and Italy have caused a slump in profits for insurer Allianz in the third quarter. In total, the consequences of natural disasters cost the Dax group almost 1.3 billion euros, almost four times as much as a year earlier, as it announced in Munich on Friday. As a result, operating profit plummeted by 15 percent to 3.5 billion euros. Analysts had expected an even sharper decline. However, CEO Oliver Bäte believes that Allianz is still on course to achieve an operating profit of between 13.2 and 15.2 billion euros this year, as planned.
The bottom line for shareholders in the third quarter was a surplus of just over two billion euros, almost 30 percent less than in the same period last year. At that time, a transfer of assets from the fund subsidiary AGI to a business partner had boosted profits.
Allianz revealed that natural disasters, including European storms, led to a significant increase in costs, totaling nearly 1.3 billion euros in the quarterly figures, substantially higher than the previous year. Due to these impacts, the company's operating profit experienced a 15% decrease in the same period.
Source: www.dpa.com
