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Middle East
Arig cancels rights issue
The Arab Insurance Group has cancelled its US$100mn rights issue due to a change of heart on the part of two of its major shareholders. One of the shareholders is reported to be the Libyan government. The governments of..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Europe
Willis hits target
Willis, the London based insurance broking group, has reported third quarter 2002 net profits of US$31mn or 19 cents a share on the back of increased commission income. The result compares with a net loss of US$81mn or 55 cents a..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
North America/Bermuda
Chubb takes asbestos charge
Chubb Corporation reported a third quarter 2002 net loss of US$242.1mn as it took a $625mn charge to boost its asbestos reserves. The result followed the completion of an internal review of its reserves by Chubb in the..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Company profile: Hannover Re Group Africa
Hannover Re Group Africa, one of the leading reinsurers in the South African market, saw its pretax profits rise by 116% to R106mn (US$9mn) in 2001. The company’s result was boosted by significant foreign currency gains arising from the..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Company profile: Singapore Re
Singapore Re’s pre-tax income fell by 25% to S$10mn (US$5.2mn) in 2001. The earnings decline reflected lower underwriting profits and the implementation of a new accounting standard, which resulted in a charge of S$2.5mn for the impairment in..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Company profile: Korean Re
Korean Re posted the best result of its 39-year history in 2001. Pretax profit for the company’s fiscal year ending 31 March 2002 stood at Won97.9bn (US$74mn), representing an increase of 160% and reflecting increased earnings from both its..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Swiss Re UK
The terrorist attacks in the USA and several major property damage losses made 2001 Swiss Re UK’s worst ever year in terms of technical results, outgoing chief executive Martin Albers noted in the company’s annual report.
In addition,..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Rises in fire and motor premium rates help overall market growth
The Fijian insurance market grew by 4% to F$123.2mn (US$53.6mn) in 2001, according to the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF), the country’s insurance supervisory body. Premium growth was strongest in the nonlife sector. The life market was more or..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Blondeau resigns
Scor chairman and chief executive, Jacques Blondeau, resigned days after the company issued yet another profit warning. The French reinsurer is now forecasting that it will show a loss of some €250mn for the full year. It is the third time..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
BCP relinquishes 21% stake in Eureko
Banco Comercial Portugues has decided to pull out of the pan-European insurance group, Eureko. BCP will take back control of its former insurance arm Seguros i Pensoes. In return BCP will relinquish its 20.8% stake in Eureko, plus €150mn. This..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
OECD looks for terror insurance solution
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has set up a working group to look for ways of insuring mega-risks such as ‘hyper terrorism’. The working group includes representatives of countries such as the US, UK,..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Asbestos and environmental liabilities
Size of funding gap presents serious challenge for industry
In a special report published last week, rating agency AM Best once again warned that US commercial insurers’ asbestos and environmental (A&E) loss reserves are approximately..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Bali attack increases demand for kidnap and ransom cover in NZ
The Bali terrorism attack, which included New Zealanders among its victims, has increased demand from NZ’s major firms, for insurance cover against war, terrorism and kidnapping of senior executives travelling abroad.
Many NZ firms do business..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Interview: Dirk Lohmann, chief executive, Converium
Dirk Lohmann, chief executive of Swiss reinsurer Converium (formerly Zurich Re), spoke to WIR
about the company’s third quarter results. Last week, Converium surprised the market by announcing that it posted $56.9mn to reserves as a result of..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Reinsurers’ 3rd qtr results hit by investment losses and European flood damage
With 11 September entering the comparison, reinsurance companies’ results for the first nine months of 2002 are showing massive improvement. The greatest improvements have been seen at companies which were worst hit by the attack.
Despite..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
No more free lunches
After the corporate scandals of Enron and Worldcom, there has been a renewed emphasis on corporate governance. In the Channel Island of Guernsey, Europe’s biggest captive insurance centre, a corporate governance code of conduct for licensed..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Asia
China to allow foreign currency policies
Insurers licensed in the Chinese market will now be allowed to issue foreign currency denominated policies for property, life and reinsurance business. However, the option will not be available to all...
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
15–28 October 2002
Late reports
13.10, electrical failure, listing
Brazil: Petrobras platform P-34, which is located in Barracuda Field in the Campos Basin, listed 48 degrees due to a failure of its electrical systems. Petrobras said a fault in the electricity system..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
World insurance stock prices
Company/group
Currency
31/12/01
17/10/02
31/10/02
Change from 17/10/02 %
Capitalisation US$ mn
* as at close 15 October
© World Insurance Report
Ace
US$
40.15
34.70
30.75
(11.4)
8,069..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Company profile: Ghana Re
The Ghanaian insurance market in 2001 continued to be characterised by intense competition and uneconomic pricing, according to Ghana Re’s annual report.
At the same time long delays in premium debt settlement resulted in poor cash flows and..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Wordings finalised as major corporations struggle to obtain cover
It now seems certain that the terrorism insurance bill will finally be voted through when Congress returns after the mid term elections early next month. This is largely the result of a Republican concession to Democrat demands that businesses..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Bolivia’s private pensions system burdened by non-payment
Bolivia’s private pension industry is now over five years old, but a recent report by the Superintendency for Pensions, Securities and Insurance (SPVS in its Spanish acronym) reveals that no less than 1,945 employers of all sizes (some 20 % of..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Argentinean motor insurers worried about inflated court awards
The economic crisis and lack of security in Argentina have caused motor insurance claims to spiral. Car thefts have gone up by about 50% since 2001. Theft insurance costs have increased by 25%, epecially in large urban areas like Buenos Aires city,..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
New definition of ‘rural’ to boost Indian life insurers’ prospects
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDA) latest notification delineating what constitutes rural business for life insurance companies is expected to provide a substantial boost for the latter’s operations in rural..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Swiss cuts pension saving rates
Switzerland’s Federal Council has trimmed the legally allowed minimum return on complementary pension savings from 4% to 3.25%. The council noted that it was responding to the yields on Swiss Confederation bonds, currently around 2.70% for..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Caribbean: motor insurance crisis • market consolidation
Because of a high accident rate, Caribbean taxi drivers are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain affordable motor vehicle insurance.
They face the dilemma of having to comply with an insurance system that is mandatory throughout the region..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002
Pool to provide temporary solution to French medical liability crisis
Following the report on the medical third party liability insurance crisis in France (WIR
699/1), local insurers have proposed a pool as a temporary measure to cover hospitals and doctors while a solution is found to the problems generated by the..
Online Published Date:
08 November 2002
Appeared in issue:
700 - 08 November 2002