Global insurer Allianz had its strongest performance in the third quarter of 2021 as total revenue and operating profit increased year over year, driven by solid performance across all businesses.
Allianz has announced total revenue growth of 9.5% to € 34.4 billion and an increase in operating profit of 11.3% to € 3.2 billion compared to the same period of the previous year for the third quarter.
Consolidated net income rose by 2.3% to 2.1 billion euros in the third quarter of 2021.
In the first nine months of the year, operating profit rose by more than 27% to € 9.9 billion, which led to a double-digit increase in net income for the period by more than 38% to € 6.9 billion.
Oliver Bäte, CEO of Allianz SE, commented: “This was our strongest third quarter so far. I see this as confirmation of our ability to serve customers and investors alike.
“Extreme weather events and rapid macroeconomic changes underscore the important contribution that insurers and asset managers can make to society. And our solid numbers prove that we can do this with healthy financial performance. “
In the property and casualty insurance (P&C) segment, Allianz recorded a total revenue growth of 9% to € 14.1 billion, a largely unchanged operating profit of € 1.3 billion and a slightly weaker combined ratio of 94.7% .
During the quarter, Allianz posted natural catastrophe claims of € 659 million or 4.9% of premiums, which is well above the € 85 million in natural catastrophe claims in the prior-year period.
The main reason for the insurer’s property damage was the floods in Europe, which weighed on the company’s operating income for the quarter by 400 million euros.
Last month, Allianz increased its gross damage from the floods to around 1.1 billion euros. The fact that the net damage for the event is around € 400 million suggests that the company has made a major reinsurance rebound.
Hurricane Ida and a number of storm and hail events across Europe added another $ 100 million in the third quarter.
The property and casualty insurance segment recorded an increase in sales to € 47.7 billion and an increase in the operating result to € 4.2 billion in the first nine months of the year. It is important that the underwriting property and accident result improved significantly in the 9M period despite higher claims from catastrophes.
In fact, the underwriting result for P&C 9M in 2021 reached a positive 2.2 billion euros, an increase of almost 62% compared to the same period last year. Allianz attributes this improvement mainly to negligible COVID-19 losses and better settlement results.
Overall, the combined ratio improved to 93.9% in the first nine months compared to the previous year.
Giulio Terzariol, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Allianz SE, said: “I am proud that we will be able to provide substantial financial support to our customers affected by extreme weather events this year, despite our good operational performance.
“Our property and casualty business is strong and we continue to focus on underwriting discipline and productivity to stay on our growth and margin path.”
In the life and health insurance business (L&H), the present value of new business premiums (PVNBP) rose to € 19.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and to € 58.9 billion in the nine months of 2021 compared to the same periods of the previous year.
The new business margin rose to 3.4% in the third quarter of 2021 and 3.2% in 9M 2021, compared to 2.9% and 2.9% respectively in the previous year.
L & H’s operating profit rose from € 1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2020 to € 1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and from € 2.9 billion in the nine months of 2020 to € 3.7 billion in the nine months Months 2021.
“Our life and health insurance businesses are growing dynamically and margins continue to grow as we manage our business efficiently in an improving economic environment. This is a good sign for a sustainable and strong contribution to our group result, ”said Terzariol.
Finally, on the asset management side, the insurer expects third-party assets to grow by $ 51 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
The operating profit in this part of the business increased by 30.2% to 882 million euros in the third quarter of 2021.
