Bright forecast for Allianz

Allianz Cornhill revealed favourable weather and low catastrophe losses aided its solid performance across both commercial and personal lines (PL) in the first half of 2004.

The insurer recorded a 13.2% increase in pre-tax profits for the first half of 2004, compared to last year. In general insurance, gross written premiums reached £936.6m, up 2.3% from last year. Its overall pre-tax profit was £92.4m, with a 95.1% combined ratio - from 95.9% last year.

The company said that benign weather