Net income attributable to shareholders slightly increased by 0.6 percent to 1.9 (1.9) billion euros compared to the third quarter of 2018; a higher non-operating investment result and a lower tax rate were offset by a normalization of the result attributable to non-controlling interests.
Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) increased 2.7 percent to 4.68 (4.55) euros in the third quarter of 2019. Annualized Return on Equity (RoE) was 14.1 percent (full-year 2018: 13.2 percent). The Solvency II capitalization ratio decreased to 202 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2019 compared to 213 percent recorded at the end of the second quarter of 2019.
In the first nine months of 2019, operating profit grew 4.2 percent to 9.1 (8.7) billion euros, mostly due to a one-off profit from our Life/Health business in the United States. Higher AuM-driven revenues from our Asset Management business also contributed to the increase, partly offset by higher administrative expenses. Operating profit from our Property-Casualty business decreased as a higher underwriting result could not compensate for the lower investment result and a decrease in the net fee and commission result. Net income attributable to shareholders grew to 6.1 (5.8) billion euros. This was primarily due to the increase in operating profit, which compensated for the normalization of the result attributable to non-controlling interests.
On July 30, 2019, Allianz completed its fourth share buy-back program, with a volume of 1.5 billion euros and 7.3 million shares. All repurchased shares will be cancelled by the end of the year.
“Allianz has once again delivered very solid results in challenging times. We are proud that so many customers trust in our products and in our brand,” said Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SE. “We are ready to reach the upper half of our operating profit outlook despite a significant increase in external challenges.”