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Allianz restructure on track as profit plunges

The German operations of Allianz suffered a 33% fall in net profit in the first half of 2007 to €7.11 billion ($11.78 billion). The insurer’s premium income fell 3.3% to €13.3 billion ($22.04 billion).

Allianz blamed the result on a combination of winter storms in Europe and a one-off capital investment gain in 2006.

The company remains confident that it can achieve its German restructuring targets without resorting to compulsory redundancies.

About 4000 of the insurer’s German employees have agreed to take early retirement or change to part-time work. Allianz still has to agree on terms with about 1700 staff to reach its original redundancy target.

The redundancies will affect about a sixth of the company’s total German workforce of 30,700. The reorganisation will also involve reducing the number of German branches from 21 to 10.