Write-downs on capital investments and other charges caused insurer Allianz to see profits fall in the second quarter despite improved day-to-day business.

At 1.7 billion euros, the surplus was almost a quarter lower than a year earlier, as the Dax group announced on Friday in Munich.

Operating profit, on the other hand, increased by 5 percent to 3.5 billion euros.

CEO Oliver Bäte therefore sees Allianz on course to achieve an operating profit of 12.4 to 14.4 billion euros this year as planned.

The figures were badly received on the stock exchange: the Allianz share price fell by 2.4 percent to 175.14 euros in the early part of the business, while the overall market was stable.

From Bäte's point of view, Allianz has proven to be resilient in the face of the fluctuations on the capital markets and a "fundamentally weaker economic environment" in recent months.

The group achieved an operating profit of 6.7 billion euros in the first half of the year - one percent more than in the same period last year.

And the solvency capital ratio improved from 199 to 200 percent between the end of March and the end of June.

light and shadow

However, the figures show light and shade: while Allianz earned more in day-to-day business than analysts had expected, the surplus fell even more than expected.

The partial sale of the Russian business should not affect the group's net income until the third quarter: a burden of around 400 million euros is then expected, according to a presentation by the board of directors on Friday.

Allianz announced in early June that it would sell a majority stake in its Russian business to Interholding, the owner of Russian property and casualty insurer Zetta Insurance.

Allianz will therefore still hold 49.9 percent of the combined company.

Meanwhile, the scandal surrounding hedge funds at subsidiary Allianz Global Investors (AGI) seems to be largely over.

The company pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the United States in May after large investors such as pension funds suffered billions in losses with certain AGI hedge funds at the beginning of the corona pandemic.

As a result, Allianz recorded charges totaling around 5.6 billion euros at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022 for compensation and fines.

At the behest of the US authorities, AGI is no longer allowed to continue the majority of the US business itself.

In the future, the new business partner Voya Investment Management will manage the affected assets.

Investor lawsuits and investigations by the US Department of Justice and the SEC had overshadowed developments at Allianz since last summer.

Group boss Bäte had repeatedly assured the shareholders that he would not cut the dividend for 2022 despite the burden of billions.

Pimco and AGI earn less

In the second quarter, Allianz increased its sales by around 8 percent to 37.1 billion euros.

While the operating profit of life and health insurance fell by around 13 percent, the group earned 21 percent more than a year earlier in property and casualty business, also thanks to lower catastrophe losses.

In the fund business of the subsidiaries Pimco and Allianz Global Investors, however, operating profit fell by almost 7 percent.

In the course of the market turbulence and the rising market interest rates, investors withdrew a total of 33.8 billion euros from the funds of the two companies.