Allianz reports strong results for 2Q 2018 and confirms full-year outlook

After a successful start into 2018, Allianz Group continued to achieve good performance in the second quarter. Indicators remained close to or exceeded the second-quarter 2017 levels, despite burdens from geopolitical instabilities and currency fluctuations.

Internal revenue growth, which adjusts for currency and consolidation effects, was 6.5 percent with all business segments recording strong growth. Total revenues grew 2.9 percent to 30.9 (second quarter of 2017: 30.0) billion euros. Operating profit increased 2.3 percent to 3.0 (2.9) billion euros.

In the Asset Management business segment the operating profit grew due to higher revenues, which were driven by higher assets under management (AuM) and improved margins. This more than compensated for the decline in operating profit from our Life/Health business segment. Our Property-Casualty business operating profit was stable. Net income attributable to shareholders decreased slightly to 1.9 (2.0) billion euros: a negative impact from the sale of our traditional life insurance portfolio in Taiwan was only partially offset by lower income taxes.

Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) increased by 5 percent to 8.86 (8.45) euros in the first half-year of 2018. Annualized Return on Equity (RoE) increased to 13.8 percent (full year 2017: 11.8 percent). Allianz maintained its strong capitalization, with the Solvency II capitalization ratio of 230 percent at the end of the quarter compared to 225 percent recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

In the first half-year of 2018 operating profit decreased 1.8 percent to 5.8 (5.9) billion euros, mostly driven by our Life/Health business segment due to a normalization of the investment margin and due to unfavorable foreign exchange. Operating profit in the Asset Management business grew thanks to higher AuM-driven revenues. The Property-Casualty operating profit increased slightly compared to prior year results. Overall, the operating profit for the first six months is slightly above the mid-point of our full-year target range. Lower income taxes compensated for the lower operating profit and non-operating result: net income attributable to shareholders was therefore stable at 3.8 (3.8) billion euros.

On 2 July 2018, Allianz Group announced a new share buy-back program, with a volume of up to 1.0 billion euros. The program shall be finalized by 30 September 2018 and all repurchased shares will be cancelled.

“We remain on track to meet our 2018 operating profit target. I am thankful for everyone on the Allianz team for making this happen across countries and companies. This makes me confident that we will achieve our three-year Renewal Agenda targets,” said Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SE.

• PVNBP, the present value of new business premiums, increased to 14.0 (13.6) billion euros in the second quarter of 2018, mainly due to higher sales of capital-efficient products in the German life insurance business.

• The new business margin (NBM) strengthened slightly to 3.5 (3.4) percent due to a favorable business mix and a slightly higher interest rate level. The value of new business (VNB) increased to 491 (469) million euros in the quarter driven by the continued shift to capital-efficient products.

• Operating profit decreased by 4.6 percent to 1,075 (1,128) million euros due to a lower investment margin in Spain and in our German life business. Negative foreign currency translation effects mainly from the United States due to the weakening US Dollar also contributed to the decrease.

“The positive results of our ongoing product mix shifting to capital-efficient products demonstrate our ability to adapt to a highly challenging interest rate environment. Our new business margin of 3.5 percent is well ahead of target and the value of new business increased to 491 million euro in the quarter, showing a good quarterly growth of five percent,“ said Giulio Terzariol.

In the first half-year of 2018 PVNBP increased to 29.0 (28.4) billion euros largely because of the higher sales of our capital-efficient products in the German life business and of our unit-linked insurance products without guarantees in Taiwan. Operating profit dropped to 2,144 (2,282) million euros as a result of less favorable market conditions and unfavorable foreign currency translation effects in the United States.

The NBM increased to 3.4 (3.3) percent bringing the VNB to 980 (922) million euros.

• Third-party assets under management (AuM) grew by 35 billion euros (2.5 percent) to 1,464 billion euros compared to the end of the first quarter of 2018. This increase was driven by favorable foreign currency translation effects. Third-party net outflows amounted to 9.2 billion euros. Total AuM reached a record 1,993 billion euros.

• The cost-income ratio (CIR) improved by 0.9 percentage points to 61.6 percent in the second quarter of 2018, as the increase in revenues outpaced an increase in expenses.

• Operating profit increased by 11.6 percent to 652 (584) million euros in the second quarter of 2018. This was driven by an increase in operating revenues, supported by both higher average AuM and an improved margin. Adjusted for foreign currency translation effects, operating profit was 18.8 percent higher.

“The combination of higher assets under management, higher margins and a lower cost-income ratio lead to a double-digit profit growth. While we had net outflows for the quarter, we recorded inflows for the months of June and July. We are very pleased with the performance of our Asset Management business,” said Giulio Terzariol.

In the first half-year of 2018, operating revenues grew by 4.6 percent to 3.3 billion euros, mainly due to increased average third-party AuM at PIMCO and an increase in third-party AuM-driven margins at both PIMCO and AllianzGI. As operating expenses only went up 2.7 percent, the CIR decreased by 1.2 percentage points to 61.7 percent. Operating profit rose 7.9 percent to 1,247 (1,156) million euros. Furthermore, favorable foreign currency effects and third-party inflows, outweighed negative market effects resulting in third-party AuM of 1,464 billion euros – an increase of 17 billion euros compared to year-end 2017.

The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 88 million retail and corporate customers. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing over 660 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers while our asset managers Allianz Global Investors and PIMCO manage more than 1.4 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we hold the leading position for insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenues of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the group.

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