Allianz SE’s share price up, posts rising Q2 profit

Shares of Allianz SE, Europes biggest insurer, climbed today, as the company posted Q2 results, revealing an 11% increase in profit, with higher earnings of its life and health insurance operations and lower expenses for natural disaster-related damages.

According to the Allianz SEs statement, the companys profit over the second profit increased by 11%. Allanz reported a net income that rose to €1.76 billion ($2.35bn) from €1.59bn a year ago, beating forecasts of €1.55bn. Allianz SE also reported an operating profit of €5.49bn for the first six months of the year.

The property and casualty arm of the company, which generates about half of the companys total profits before tax, saw upbeat performance on account of lower claims for natural disaster-related damages. The life and health insurance division performance was also pushed up, thanks to the increasing sales of annuities in the US.

The asset-management units results of Allianz SE turned out to be the weak spot for the quarter, with a €675 million operating profit – 16% lower than a year ago, but still ahead of analysts projections of €654 million.

“Asset management performed within expectations,” Dieter Wemmer, CEO of Allianz SE said in a statement. “The key for future results is the investment performance, which is at a very high level.”

Allianz also said the upper end of its full-year operating profit target of €9.5bn – €10.5bn is “in reach”.

Allianz SE added 0.70% to trade at €122.15 per share by 9:21 GMT, marking a one year change of +2.82% and valuing the company at €55.37bn (about $74.20bn). According to the Financial Times, 30 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Allianz SE have a median target of €142.50, with a high estimate of €160.00 and a low estimate of €117.00. The median estimate represents a 17.48% increase from the last price of €121.30.