MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - German insurance giant Allianz has made a surprisingly
good start to the year thanks to good business in the property and
casualty segment, the company said on Wednesday.

In the first quarter, the DAX-listed group achieved an operating
profit of almost ?4 billion ($4.33 billion), almost 7% more than a
year earlier, Allianz said.

The net profit attributable to shareholders grew by around 22% to
just under ?2.5 billion following a burden in the previous year.
Allianz performed consistently better than analysts had expected.

Chief executive Oliver Bäte believes the insurer is still on course
to achieve an overall operating profit of ?13.8 billion to ?15.8
billion this year.

Property and casualty insurance performed particularly well, posting
an operating profit of just under ?2.1 billion. This was an increase
of about 10% compared to the same period last year.

In the life and health insurance segment, the results remained
stable.

In the fund business, subsidiaries Pimco and Allianz Global Investors
raised more than ?34 billion in net new money and significantly
increased their results.


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