Allianz Profits Sag On Greek Writedowns

FRANKFURT, Germany — Losses incurred from Greek bond holdings saw 2011 profits at German insurer Allianz SE slide sharply.

The company said Thursday that its full-year net profit fell by 46 percent to euro2.55 billion from euro5.2 billion in 2010. It said writedowns on Greek government bonds and other investments there cost it euro1.9 billion.

Greek bonds have fallen steeply due to the country's debt crisis; the country has worked out a deal for creditors to take losses on their investments of 70 percent or more. Allianz said it had written down the value of Greek bonds on its books to around a quarter of their value.

In the fourth quarter, the company's profit more than halved to euro492 million ($654 million) from euro1.14 billion in the same quarter the year before. Analysts had expected a more modest decline to euro882.7 million.

Allianz also reported that its fourth-quarter revenue slipped 3.7 percent to euro25.0 billion.