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Insurer Allianz sees profit rise 23 percent

295 days ago

(AP:FRANKFURT, Germany) German insurance and asset management company Allianz SE says net profit rose 23 percent in the second quarter as the company's life insurance business did well.

Net profit rose to (EURO)1.32 billion ($1.63 billion) from (EURO)1.07 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue rose 2.5 percent to (EURO)25.2 billion

Earnings also bounced back from losses on Greek government bonds of (EURO)326 million recorded in the year earlier quarter. Greek bonds lost much of their value due to the country's financial crisis.

Meanwhile, earnings at the life and health insurance business more than doubled, jumping to (EURO)506 million from (EURO)214 million a year ago. Allianz said Friday premium income was doing well even in countries that have been hit by Europe's economic and financial crisis such as Spain and Italy.

That more than offset a lower result in the company's property and casualty insurance business, where earnings were held back by a (EURO)120 million deduction for claims related to flooding in Thailand.

"Our consistently good results show that we weather the difficult market conditions very well. Our operative business is stable and remains on course," CEO Michael Diekmann said in a statement.

The company, which is based in Munich, reaffirmed its outlook for operating profit of (EURO)8.2 billion for the year, plus or minus (EURO)500 million.

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