(Bloomberg) -- Allianz SE reported a 23 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income and announced its first-ever share buyback as Europe’s biggest insurer makes good on a promise to return excess cash to shareholders.
Net income rose to 1.74 billion euros ($1.86 billion) in the fourth quarter from 1.42 billion euros a year ago, the insurer said late Thursday in a statement from Munich. Analysts had expected earnings of 1.62 billion euros, according to the average of seven estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company plans to spend as much as 3 billion euros to repurchase shares over the next 12 months.
“What’s fantastic is the solvency ratio driven by disposals, capital generation and management measures,” said Michael Haid, an analyst at Commerzbank AG with a buy rating on the stock. “The good capital ratios mean that future buybacks are becoming more likely.”
|Scouting acquisitions
Allianz, led since May 2015 by Chief Executive Officer Oliver Baete, had promised investors to pay out the company’s unused acquisition budget if it couldn’t find suitable deals. The 51-year-old CEO has been scouting for acquisitions over the past months, exploring a purchase of Australian insurer QBE Insurance Group Ltd. as well as parts of Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Italy’s biggest insurer, people familiar with the matter have said.
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