Allianz delivers solid half year results

Allianz UK Financial Results                             HY 2017                 HY 2016

Gross Written Premium (GWP)                         £ 1104.4m                   £ 1098.2m

Operating Profit                                                   £74.7m                        £86.9m

Combined Operating Ratio (COR)                       96.2%                          96.3%

Commercial Lines

GWP                                                                 £602.0m                        £578.0m

COR                                                                  92.8%                            91.2%

Personal Lines

GWP                                                                £502.4m                        £520.1m

COR                                                                 £99.0%                            99.9%

Chief Executive Officer, Jon Dye said:

“The business played to its technical strengths in underwriting and claims and performed well as a result. GWP is up 0.6% over the previous year and the COR is at a strong 96.2% which means we are delivering in line with our profitable growth objective.

“During a very volatile period in the market, our reputation for taking pricing decisions that reflect the realities of the market has been crucial in working with brokers to carry rate increases necessary to deal with Ogden impacts”.

Commercial:

The Combined Ratio across Commercial is at an excellent level and GWP has grown by 4.2% over the previous year.

The rate strength picture is positive as is our retention and new business performance. We have made a good start to dealing with the required rate increases created by the Ogden Rate reduction. However, there is still some way to go to fill the financial hole made by a decision that left a lot to be desired.

Engineering achieved top line growth as well as a good level of underwriting profit. The business continues to perform in line with its status as the market’s leading insurance and inspection provider.

Feedback from brokers was the key to creating a significantly enhanced construction proposition launched recently. Offering expert advice, legal services and a specialist construction claims service, we believe brokers will feel they have a product they can really work with when talking to their customers about their constrution insurance needs.

Personal:

As previously reported, the Personal Lines revenue performance reflects the decision to withdraw from the direct market. The Combined Ratio has improved almost one percent over the previous year, which is encouraging.

The first six months of the year saw an underlying improvement in Motor profitability, together with strong growth in Petplan and an improved underwriting performance in Corporate Partner over the previous year.

Claims:

The Gracechurch UK Mid-Market Claims Report is produced using responses from Commercial Claims Brokers and the business achieved top spot amongst our peer group for the first time in 2016. We are pleased to report that in the first quarter Claims retained its first position for net satisfaction among our peers and with an improved score.

The report also ranked us first for spontaneous ‘top of mind recommendations’. This means that four out of five brokers who have used Allianz would recommend us, based on the quality of our claims service.

The results show that we are delivering a best in class level of performance which should give brokers every confidence in recommending Allianz to their commercial customers.

The Excellence in Claims programme celebrated its 10 year chartered anniversary, following accreditation by the Chartered Institute of Insurance in 2007. With over 7,000 employees having taken part in the programme, it continues to be an industry-leading induction and training programme for our Claims employees across all levels and experience.

Jon Dye concluded:

“The business is entering an exciting period in its history with today’s announcement of a joint venture agreement with LV= (subject to regulatory approval). Creating a significant player in the retail market through this landmark partnership, and strengthening our commercial book at the same time, puts Allianz in an excellent position to continue profitably growing the business.

“During last year’s successful restructuring of the organisation, we continued to deliver a business as usual service to our customers, brokers and other business partners. Knowing that we can manage a significant change programme without taking our eye of the ball puts us in an excellent position to do so again during the work needed to make the LV= partnership a success.”

Ends.

Notes for the Media:

1. The financial results in this press release are calculated on a local basis only. The numbers will vary from those provided by Allianz Group because of different accounting approaches in relation to the Ogden discount rate. There will also be variations because of fluctuations in the Sterling against the Euro exchange rate during the period.
2. Allianz Insurance is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz SE Group, the largest property and casualty insurer worldwide. Around 85 million private and corporate customers rely on Allianz's knowledge, global reach, capital strength and solidity to help them make the most of financial opportunities and to avoid and safeguard themselves against risks.

   In 2016, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries served 86.3m customers and achieved total revenues of approximately 122.4bn euros.

3. Media Contact:

   Mark Bishop, Corporate Communications Manager

   Contact Telephone Numbers:

   Work - 01483 552731

   Mobile - 07802 925053

   Email - mark.bishop@allianz.co.uk