Allianz Lanka maintains growth momentum through 2011

Allianz Lanka said yesterday that it has continued its growth momentum throughout 2011.

The Life Company achieved a GWP of Rs. 351 million with a year on year growth of 72%. The Company also recorded an impressive 40% growth in first year premium. Successful performance enabled Allianz Life Lanka to declare a credit rate of 8.5% to its Life policyholders.

The Life Fund grew from Rs. 66 million to Rs. 179 million during the year, a growth of 171%, and the Company’s solvency margin was maintained at 16 times above the regulatory minimum requirement. At the completion of three years, the achievements of the Life Company are noteworthy.

The General Company achieved a GWP of Rs. 1,501 million against the GWP of Rs. 1,470 million in 2010. Despite being the only insurer in the country with no captive business, General business continued to add value year on year, with growth momentum maintained in both top line as well as bottom line. The General Company delivered another outstanding year in terms of profitability, staying true to its excellent track record over past years.

The PBT of Rs.286 million records a 29% growth over 2010, with PAT growing by43%, amounting to a profit of Rs. 240 million. In a highly competitive soft market the General Company continues to achieve pure underwriting profits due to prudent underwriting practices and favorable reinsurance arrangements from an AA rated reinsurer. In the year under review a pure underwriting profit of Rs. 180 million was achieved, which is a 43% growth over the last year.

The General Company’s solvency stood seven times higher than the regulatory requirement. Main reasons for this growth are the Company’s consistent underwriting policy that identifies acceptable risks over mere top line growth, as well as its prudent investment strategy. “Our main aim has always been to grow sustainably and to create value for all our stakeholders – employees, shareholders, customers and distributors. With this in mind, we invested heavily in new products and further consolidated our business in the North and East,” affirmed Allianz Lanka CEO Surekha Alles.

“We also reinforced our focus on IT and on training and developing our staff in several disciplines. These are all initiatives aimed at benefitting our customers as the end users,” she added. This was yet another year in which Allianz Lanka followed its global policy of siphoning profits into improving the quality of life of the communities it serves, and focused CSR initiatives to rejuvenate the post-war economies of the north and east and to assist marginalised communities in other parts of the island.

Allianz Insurance Lanka Ltd. and Allianz Life Insurance Lanka Ltd. are fully-owned subsidiaries of world leader in insurance and financial services, Allianz, enjoying a “AA” (outlook negative) rating status from premier ratings agency Standard and Poor’s. Thus Allianz remains one of the highest-rated insurance groups with regards to its creditworthiness. Meanwhile, Allianz SE Group achieved its operating profit target for 2011 despite volatile financial markets and an unusually high level of natural catastrophes. Revenues reached 103.6 billion euros within 2.7% of the record year 2010, which achieved 106.5 billion euros. The 2011 operating profit of 7.9 billion euros was within the target range of 8.0 billion euros, plus/minus 0.5 billion euros. Compared to the 2010 operating profit of 8.2 billion euros, this is a decrease of 4.6%.

The property and casualty insurance business increased its revenues while also maintaining its profitability amid record claims from earthquakes, floods and storms. Life and health insurance earned an operating profit on target despite adverse financial market conditions. Asset Management, in turn, booked another successful year, continuing its strong performance.

Net income for 2011 was 2.8 billion euros, compared to 5.2 billion euros the year before. The decline of 46.2 % was mainly due to very conservative non-operating impairments of 1.9 billion euros from Greek Sovereign debt and investments, particularly in financials.

Allianz Group further improved its strong capital position in 2011: Shareholders’ equity roseto 44.915 billion euros from 44.491 billion euros. The solvency ratio increased to 179% at the end of 2011, compared to 173 % the year before. “2011 was a tough year. But we maintained our stability throughout. That’s an extraordinary achievement,” said Michael Diekmann, CEO of Allianz SE. “These results show the true strength of the Allianz business Model.”