Germany's Allianz held on to its goal of breaking even at its troubled banking business after quarterly group net profit beat market consensus estimates today.
Europe's biggest insurer by revenues said second-quarter net profit came in at €614 million, down from €675 million in the first quarter and above the €589 million average forecast.
The group said its banking division - a major concern among investors after three years of losses - made a quarterly net profit of €127 million, while loan provisions fell to €82 million from €135 million the previous quarter.
It reiterated its 2004 break-even goal for the business.
In the first quarter, the banking division had made its first profit since the acquisition of Dresdner three years ago.
Allianz said its quarterly net premium income, revenues from selling products such as insurance policies to clients, was at €13.78 billion, just slightly higher than last year.
"We still expect total premium income to increase by some 4 per cent (in 2004)," Allianz said in its first-half report.
Its combined ratio stood at 94.3 per cent in the first half, bringing it closer to its goal of a combined ratio of below 97 per cent this year.