‘Painful reminders’ hit OdysseyRe and Fairfax

By Stuart Collins

ODYSSEYRE, the majority-owned reinsurance arm of Fairfax Financial, has reported a loss for the third quarter and first nine months of 2005, following a $179m hit from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. OdysseyRe posted an operating loss of $153m in the third-quarter 2005, compared with a loss of $3.4m in the same-period 2004. For the first nine months OdysseyRe recorded a $95m operating loss in 2005 compared with $71m profit in 2004.