The comapny reached its full-year net-profit goal of €8 billion ($11.7 billion), up 14% from €7.02 billion the previous year. The increase came despite €900 million of write-downs on complex financial instruments in its banking business in the fourth quarter.
The write-downs pushed its Dresdner Bank unit to a quarterly operating loss of €450 million, but the unit still managed to achieve operating profit of €750 million for the full year, Allianz said nearly a month ahead of schedule.
"When you look at what is happening with other banks, people had expected the worst," said WestLB analyst Andreas Schaefer. "And although it is a big loss at [Dresdner], it is not something which is catastrophic."
Allianz shares added to already strong gains. The shares ended up 11.3% at €123.85 each in Frankfurt trading Thursday.