The German insurance giant Allianz has said its second-quarter net profit plunged by 45.6% from a year earlier to just over €1 billion.
The quarter rounded out a first half that was marked by 'exceptionally high natural catastrophe losses,' chief executive Michael Diekmann said.
The group said the fall also stemmed from 'a low level of harvesting' compared with the same period a year earlier, when Allianz booked a high level of gains on investments in shares, debt securities and property. It reported a gain of €181m for that area this year, against €959m in the second quarter of 2009.
Claims from natural disasters in the quarter amounted to €255m. Allianz's operating profit in Q2 gained 22.7%, however, to almost €2.2 billion, while sales were 14.5% higher at €25.4 billion.
For the first six months of 2010, the insurer made an operating profit of €3.9 billion, allowing Diekmann to confirm its full-year forecast for a trading profit of around €7.2 billion.
Allianz said it has exposure of €9.4 billion to government bonds in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, and that losses on these were running at €900m by the end of June.
A breakdown also showed that its Irish business made an operating profit of €14m in the second quarter of the year, having broken even a year earlier. It made a profit of €8m for the first six months as premium income was broadly flat in the period.
