FRANKFURT German insurer Allianz on Thursday was optimistic on its outlook for the full year after reporting a better-than-expected 18% rise in second-quarter net profit.

The company, one of Europe's largest financial services groups, pointed to strength at its property and casualty division, helped by lower claims from natural disasters.

Allianz stuck to its target of 2023 operating profit between 13.2 billion and 15.2 billion euros ($16.75 billion), but the insurer's finance chief was upbeat on the outlook.

"It’s hard to imagine we won't end up in the upper half" of that range, Giulio Terzariol, chief financial officer, told journalists.

Allianz's shares traded 3.1% higher by midday in Frankfurt.

Analysts were positive on the results.

"Allianz delivered the stability we wanted with small beats to expectations," Bank of America analysts said in a research note.

The second quarter result marks a recovery from a year earlier, which was dampened by volatile markets in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

The company also had to deal with a problem at one of its funds units last year, which was hit with a fraud case that resulted in $6 billion in settlements and fines.

Allianz's CFO pointed to some markets, like Britain and Australia, where it needed "to do work" to lift profitability.

Terzariol said Allianz was increasing its rates in Australia and expected improvements later this year.

Net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.337 billion euros ($2.57 billion) in the three months through June compares with 1.977 billion euros a year earlier. The figure surpassed a 2.308 billion euro consensus forecast.

($1 = 0.9075 euros)

(Reporting by Tom Sims and Alexander Huebner, Editing by Rachel More, Friederike Heine and Jane Merriman)