European insurance giant Allianz came under attack from shareholders at its annual meeting yesterday, after it admitted that write downs of £800m ($1.3bn) would keep the group in the red for the fourth quarter running.
Shareholders attacked the board despite reassurances that the insurer's underwriting operation had returned to profitability.
Outgoing chairman Henning Schulte-Noelle also came under fire from shareholders questioning his elevation to the group's supervisory board.
Schulte-Noelle admitted that £800m ($1.3bn) of write downs in the first quarter of 2003 would keep the group in the red for the fourth quarter running and said the economic environment remained "extremely tense".
However he claimed that last year's performance "must remain an isolated event. We have learned the right lessons from this experience."
According to reports, many at the meeting questioned the sustainability of the insurer's underwriting profitability. One London-based analyst told the FT.com: "There is a significant risk that quarter one proves a lot better than the rest of the year."
