Allianz sees full-year profits a top of range

German insurance giant Allianz said on Friday it expects full-year profits to come in at the top of its forecast range after a "healthy" second quarter when net profit rose by a quarter. "In view of our good half-year results, we are maintaining our operating profit outlook for 2013 of 9.2 billion euros ($12.2 billion), plus or minus 500 million euros," said chief executive Michael Diekmann. "Although based on our current projections we see the figure more toward the upper end of this range," he added. In 2012, Allianz booked operating profit of 9.5 billion euros. In the period from April to June, "the Allianz group again showed healthy growth," Diekmann said. Second-quarter net profit rose by 26.8 percent to 1.6 billion euros. Underlying or operating profit rose by 5.2 percent to 2.4 billion euros and revenues were up 6.3 percent at 26.8 billion euros. Allianz said that all three of its main business segments -- property and casualty; life and health; and asset management -- "mastered the challenges in the second quarter." The property and casualty insurance division "produced stable revenues and strong profits despite several natural catastrophes," it said. In life and health insurance, "revenues grew strongly by nearly 10 percent, whereas operating profit fell amid the changing interest rate environment." The asset management "remained very strong. Despite high bond market volatility and a sudden uptick in key interest rates, the segment saw net inflows and once again recorded double-digit increases in operating profit for the quarter," Allianz said. "We can look back on a very successful first half year overall," said CEO Diekmann. "Although we faced record floods in Central Europe, persistent low interest rates and erratic capital markets, our business continued to grow profitably," he said.