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☆ Allianz retains full-year outlook despite 30% slump in Q3 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of insurer Allianz SE is seen on the company building in Puteaux at the financial and business district of La Defense near Paris, outside Paris, France, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsFRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE) on Friday posted a 30% fall in its third-quarter net profit, dragged down by claims from natural catastrophes, although the financial services company maintained its full-year profit outlook. Net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.021 billion euros ($2.16 billion) in the three-month period ended September, compared with 2.866 billion euros a year earlier. Allianz, one of Europe's largest financial services groups, described the level of claims as "exceptionally high". Still, the company stuck to its target of 2023 operating profit between 13.2 billion and 15.2 billion euros.

Persons: Charles Platiau, Tom Sims, Christina Amann, Linda Pasquini, Miranda Murray, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: Allianz, La Defense, REUTERS, Rights, Germany's Allianz, Thomson Locations: Puteaux, La, Paris, France, Ukraine, Continental Europe, Germany, Italy, Austria

☆ U.S. investors rebuff big oil climate shareholder resolutions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Netherlands-based activist group Follow This was created first to target Shell (SHEL.L) and subsequently expanded to file climate resolutions at other western majors including BP (BP.L), Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (CVX.N) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA). According to the data published by it and investors, giant U.S. investors BlackRock (BLK.N), Vanguard, State Street (STT.N) and JPMorgan (JPM.N) all voted against the Follow This resolutions this year. "Investors hold the key to tackling the climate crisis with their shareholder voting power at Big Oil. Amundi, Allianz, and UBS use their voting power to mitigate the climate crisis,” said Follow This founder Mark van Baal. This mirrors big shareholder proxy voting firm Glass Lewis and ISS, which changed some of their recommendations for this year to the detriment of Follow This, including withdrawing support for the activist resolution at Chevron.

Persons: Morgan Chase, Mike Segar, France's, ”, Mark van Baal, Glass Lewis, Shadia Nasralla, Jan Harvey Organizations: Co, New York City, REUTERS, Companies Allianz, Big U.S, Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BlackRock, Vanguard, State, JPMorgan, Paris, Britain's HSBC, HSBA.L, UBS, Germany's Allianz, Big Oil, Amundi, Allianz, Britain's, General, Exxon, ISS, Thomson Locations: New York, Big, Paris, Netherlands, Chevron's

Cinven this month signed an accord with GIC, Singapore's sovereign fund, and another two investors to purchase from them 140 million euros of Tier2 Eurovita bonds, the source added. Cinven, which acquired Eurovita in 2017, also launched a tender offer to buy back another 20 million euros of bonds from investors including Italian financial institutions, so that only around 9 million remain outstanding, the source said. Italian insurance authorities placed Eurovita under special administration this year, the first time they have taken such a step, after rising rates blew a hole in the life insurer's cash reserves. Instead, Cinven was asked to carry out the debt buyback and cancel the bonds to support a solvent liquidation, one of the people added. Like other life insurers, especially those relying on banks to sell products, Eurovita was hit by early redemptions once rates started rising and savers sought better returns.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Cinven, Eurovita, Assicurazioni, Valentina Za, Emilio Parodi, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, GIC, Germany's Allianz, Allianz, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Cinven

Thermal coal insurance rates rose more than 20% last year, it said, above the 7.3% rise in the benchmark Marsh Global Insurance Market Index. Insurance companies can be active in both primary insurance and reinsurance and have differing commitments on ESG for different parts of their business. "Establishing a mutual fund for the coal industry is a matter for the coal industry," a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Treasury said. "I'm talking about going beyond your normal UK-based markets and looking into Asia for funders and insurance cover," she added. Coal prices hit record highs in September last year as European countries scrambled to replace Russian gas, sending coal miners' profits soaring.

Persons: Philip Mostert, Seriti, Doug Gain, Gain, Ben Davis, Willis Towers Watson, Thungela, China's, Russia's, Switzerland's Chubb, Chubb, Russia's SOGAZ, Peter Bosshard, Nombasa Tsengwa, Tsengwa, Exxaro, Clara Denina, Sarah McFarlane, Nelson Banya, Elaine Hardcastle, Daniel Flynn Organizations: REUTERS, Seriti, Thungela Resources, International Energy Agency, Reuters, Marsh Global Insurance, Whitehaven Coal, Whitehaven, Allianz, Swiss, Germany's Allianz, Insuramore, Australian Department of Treasury, South, Thomson Locations: American, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, South, Ukraine, Whitehaven, Munich, Australia, Asia, Europe

☆ Italy's top insurers, banks strike Eurovita rescue deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, June 30 (Reuters) - Italy's top four insurers and Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE) have agreed a multi-billion euro rescue deal for Eurovita, industry supervisor IVASS said on Friday after months of work to broker an accord which also involves 25 banks. Earlier this year, Eurovita became the first Italian insurance company to be placed under special administration, after running into trouble due to higher interest rates. Insurers Generali (GASI.MI), Intesa Sanpaolo Vita (PST.MI), Poste Vita (PST.MI), UnipolSAI (US.MI) and Allianz will set up a new company that will take on Eurovita life insurance policies. To prevent the five insurers from being hit by redemptions once the ban is lifted, banks that sold Eurovita the products are participating in the rescue. The lenders will provide financing to repay Eurovita customers who redeem their policies, while holding the underlying bonds to maturity and neutralising any losses.

Persons: IVASS, Eurovita, redemptions, Intesa, Vitale &, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi, Valentina Za, Alvise Armellini, Alexander Smith Organizations: MILAN, Germany's Allianz, Allianz, Banco, Credit Agricole, Thomson Locations: Eurovita

[1/2] Uday Kotak, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank poses for a picture at the company's corporate office in Mumbai January 15, 2015. Kotak General Insurance, which is fully-owned by Indian banking giant Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), did not respond to Reuters queries. While the Kotak insurance unit's interest in selling a stake has been reported earlier, its talks with Zurich, the potential deal size and valuation are being reported for the first time. More than 30 companies operate in India's general insurance market, where annual premium collections grew 11% to reach $26.7 billion in 2021-22, helped by rising financial literacy and income levels, CareEdge Ratings said in a report. Already, foreign companies such as Germany's Allianz and South Africa's Lombard have general insurance partnerships with Indian banking or financial groups.

Persons: Uday Kotak, Kotak, South Africa's Lombard, Ergo, Sriram, Tom Sims, Victoria Farr, Aditya Kalra, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Mahindra Bank, REUTERS, Danish, Zurich Insurance, Kotak, Zurich eyeing, Insurance, Asia's, Germany's Allianz, South, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, Zurich, MUMBAI, South Africa's, Europe, China, Frankfurt

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.4% higher, with banks higher by 0.8% and oil and gas stocks gaining 1.5%. European stock markets closed higher Friday despite a downbeat week, as investors assessed the state of play across first-quarter earnings and economic data. France's Societe Generale beat first-quarter earnings estimates, as its shares climbed as much as 2%. Shares of the financial services provider closed 0.5% higher. Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed on Friday, while U.S. stocks were flat by the European close.

☆ AXA lifts 2023 targets as full-year earnings miss expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Blames fall in valuation of bond assetsRaises 2023 earnings growth guidanceAnnounces 1.1 billion-euro share bay-back programPARIS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) posted lower-than-expected full-year earnings on Thursday as the rise in interest rates weighed on the valuation of its bond assets but raised its 2023 targets. Europe's second-biggest insurer after Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE) said net income fell by 8% year-on-year to 6.7 billion euros ($7.12 billion) in 2022. Gross revenues over the year were up 2% to 102.3 billion euros, in line with the Refinitiv analyst consensus estimate. AXA yet raised its 2023 guidance, saying it now targeted an underlying earnings per share growth above 7%, up from a previous target of a growth in the high end of its 3% to 7% range by 2023. It also announced a share buy-back programme of up to 1.1 billion euros this year and a dividend of 1.70 per share, up 10% from 2021.

☆ Allianz swings to Q4 net profit, bounces back from U.S. funds debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Germany's Allianz on Friday swung to a fourth-quarter net profit, marking a return to the black after taking big charges a year earlier for a U.S. funds scandal. Net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.007 billion euros ($2.13 billion) in the three months through December compares with a loss of 292 million euros a year earlier. Analysts had expected a net profit of 2.034 billion euros. "We just run a very, very good company," Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte told CNBC on "Squawk Box Europe" Friday. Bäte also highlighted that the interest rate environment is "really good" for the bank and that Allianz would be making the most of that.

They stressed that the reallocation would be gradual and not result in fire sales, with new money going largely into fixed income rather than alternative investments. Goldman Sachs' asset management arm is planning to significantly reduce its $59 billion of alternative investments. Credit rating agencies Moody's and S&P, which both give Allianz high marks, have pointed to the greater risk posed by comparatively illiquid alternative investments in Allianz's portfolio. Alternative investments come at a price, requiring Allianz and other insurers to set aside more capital to own them because they are less liquid than bonds. In its wake, Allianz has had to close down Allianz Global Investors in the United States in a serious blow to the company.

Now, with the fraud charges filed earlier this week against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, Williams has further solidified his office's growing role in prosecuting financial crimes involving cryptocurrency, according to interviews with a half-dozen former prosecutors. Bankman-Fried, 30, has acknowledged risk management failures at FTX but said he does not believe he has criminal liability. In the wake of Bankman-Fried's arrest, Williams has made clear he would plow on with cryptocurrency enforcement. On Wednesday, he announced wire fraud conspiracy charges against the founders of two separate cryptocurrency mining and trading companies he called Ponzi schemes. On Tuesday, Williams told reporters more charges in the FTX probe were possible.

☆ Axa 9-month revenue up 2%, faces 400 mln euro hit from Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The French insurer - Europe's second-biggest after Germany's Allianz - said its nine-month revenue rose 2% on a comparable basis to 78.4 billion euros from 76 billion in the year-earlier period. Property and casualty revenue was up 3% to 40.7 billion euros, while health revenue was up 14% to 13.1 billion. Axa said that Hurricane Ian, which devastated the coastlines of Florida in September, was expected to be one of the costliest hurricanes to hit the United States in recent years. More than 80 people died in Hurricane Ian, which is likely to be among the worst in U.S. history, President Joe Biden has said. Axa also confirmed it was taking part in a capital increase of Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) for an amount that could reach 200 million euros.

☆ U.S. SEC obtained $6.4 bln from enforcement in fiscal 2022 -chair
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained $6.4 billion from enforcement actions, including $4 billion in penalties, in fiscal 2022, the agency's chair Gary Gensler said on Wednesday. The large number of levies - collected in fines, judgments and other fees from about 700 enforcement actions - would mark a record, underscoring the Wall Street regulator's more aggressive stance against corporate wrongdoing under Democratic leadership. The total levied is higher than the previous year's $3.9 billion the SEC obtained from 697 actions and than 2020's record of $4.7 billion across 715 cases, according to a review of SEC's previous enforcement results. Gensler highlighted the SEC's enforcement activity in the year ended September 30 in prepared remarks at a Practicing Law Institute event. The agency is expected to publish its full enforcement report sometime this month.

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