German insurance giant Allianz said it was sticking to its full-year profit forecast despite taking a hit of 455 million euros ($590 million) from Hurricane Sandy.
“Despite the impact of Hurricane Sandy, we continue to expect our operating profit for 2012 to exceed nine billion euros,” said Dieter Wemmer, the firm’s chief financial officer, in a statement.
Allianz said it would publish its year-end figures, including estimates for 2012 natural catastrophe damage, on February 21.
Investors appeared underwhelmed by the announcement, with Allianz stock up 0.14 per cent, slightly better than the wider DAX market of leading German shares, which was down by 0.13 per cent.
Earlier in January, the world’s leading reinsurer, Munich Re, said that natural catastrophes including Hurricane Sandy in October in the United States caused $160 billion (120-billion euros’) worth of damage in 2012. Overall, global losses were significantly lower in 2012 than in 2011 when record figures were posted due to the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and severe floods in Thailand, Munich Re added.
Berlin, Jan 15, 2013 (AFP)
