German insurance giant Allianz has made a surprisingly good start to the year thanks to good business in the property and casualty segment, the company said on Wednesday. In the first quarter, the DAX-listed group achieved an operating profit of almost €4 billion ($4.33 billion), almost 7% more than a year earlier, Allianz said. The net profit attributable to shareholders grew by around 22% to just under €2.5 billion following a burden in the previous year. Allianz performed consistently better than analysts had expected. Chief executive Oliver Bäte believes the insurer is still on course to a…