The German insurer Allianz posted a sharp drop in revenue in the first half of 2016. But life and health insurance in Indonesia and Malaysia were standouts.
The Frankfurt-based insurer Allianz said on Wednesday its profits in Asia-Pacific held steady at 134 million euros, when stripping out the planned sale of its South Korean business, despite a sharp drop in revenue.
Each of its insurance units was hit by high market volatility in Asia, leading revenue to shrink by more than one-third to 2.1 billion euros. Allianz said also, it hiked its margin by 130 basis points to 5.5 percent due to active portfolio management in its life insurance arm.
Upbeat on Asia
«We are very optimistic on our outlook for Asia Pacific, and continue to see compelling opportunities in this region,» Allianz regional head George Sartorel said in a statement. Allianz's life and health unit, the larger of its two two insurance divisions, bolstered profit by 3 percent to 101 million euros, helped by a healthy showing from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Profits at the smaller property and casualty insurance arm slid 22 percent to 33 million euros on weaker underwriting results in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Healthy Combined Ratio
Allianz's underlying combined ratio, a measure of how much is paid on claims and costs for each dollar earned, stood at 94.7 percent in the region. A ratio of less than 100 percent means that an insurance firm’s underwriting business is profitable.
The insurer said its ranks of insurance agents grew by 9 percent in the second quarter, part of efforts to expand selling efforts across agency, strategic partnerships, bancassurance and digital channels.
