German insurance group Allianz has warned that it will not reach its operating profit target going into 2009 following a difficult second quarter. It said it expected the financial crisis to persist.
In 2006, the group had set a goal of increasing its operating profit by an average of 10% by next year. But it now expects to miss that target.
In Q2, net profit plunged by 28% from a year earlier to €1.5 billion and operating profit fell 36% to €3.3 billion.
Allianz said turbulence on international financial markets had seriously cut into its life insurance activities. Its banking arm Dresdner Bank was also hit by the turmoil, posting an operating loss of €566m in the three months from April to June.
Dresdner's investment banking activities suffered in particular from losses in market operations and asset writedowns linked to the crisis.
Allianz said it expected the difficult market conditions to continue into next year. Its profit warning comes a week after one from the German reinsurance group Munich Re.
