INSURANCE giant, Allianz, has announced a record operating profit of €14.7 billion for the full year 2023, an increase of 6.7 percent from €13.8 billion recorded in the previous year.
The uptick, it said, was driven primarily by the life/health (L&H) business segment.
According to the firm, total business volume grew 5.5 percent to €161.7 billion in 2023 because of its property and casualty (P&C) business segment on the back of positive price and volume effects, supported by the performance of its L&H segment driven by growth in the US.
It added that core net income grew from €7 billion in 2022 to €9.1 billion in 2023, driven by an improved operating profit in the current period, as net income increased 33 percent year-on-year to €8.5 billion.
L&H, the firm’s reinsurance arm’s operating profit increased by €1 billion year-on-year to €5.2 billion, the contractual service margin increased from €52.2 billion to €52.6 billion, the new business margin remained stable at 5.9 percent, while the value of new business jumped to €4 billion in 2023 from €3.9 billion in 2022.
Allianz also reported that its asset management business, operating revenues softened 1.8 percent to €8.1 billion in 2023, with higher performance fees offset by lower AuM-driven revenues, while operating profit in the business totaled €3.1 billion in 2023, down €100 million year-on-year.
According to the firm, third-party assets under management were €1.712 trillion for 2023, up €77 billion year-on-year, as total assets under management were €2.224 trillion, up €82 billion on 2022 and for 2024, the re/insurer has targeted an operating profit of €14.8 billion, plus or minus €1 billion.
Commenting, Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz, said, “Allianz extended our track record of delivering a record operating profit and core net income, consolidating our leading position as one of the world’s most resilient global insurers and active asset managers.
“Our results demonstrate the trust that our customers place in Allianz and the resilience and potential of our business model and our people. Our property-casualty business saw strong growth while we supported our customers affected by elevated levels of natural catastrophes.
“Our life/health segment delivered profitable growth as we developed attractive solutions to protect our customers from the effects of inflation on their savings and in our asset management business, we achieved robust net inflows in a volatile capital market environment.”
“Our focus on technical excellence helped us to successfully mitigate the impact of inflation on our operating profit, which faced an above-average level of natural catastrophes. Our investment result benefited from higher interest rates.
“The operating profit in our life/health segment exceeded our outlook mid-point and was also well above the prior year. Our value creation is supported by a healthy new business margin that we maintained by providing attractive solutions to our clients, allowing us to record a solid new business development.
“In asset management, our operating profit was above our outlook mid-point and we achieved positive net inflows in a volatile market environment. A competitive cost-income ratio and an increase in our third-party assets under management bode well for future profitability.
“We will continue to focus on generating attractive and sustainable returns for all of our stakeholders while not compromising on our resilience. We enter 2024 with confidence and target a full-year operating profit of 14.8 billion euros, plus or minus 1 billion euros.”