Corporate round-up

Global natural catastrophe losses totalled about $11bn for the first half of the year, above the 10-year six-month average of $10bn, according to Munich Re in a mid-term review issued last month. January’s Windstorm Klaus was the most expensive loss of the 2009 period causing an insurance loss of $2.3bn, followed by an outbreak of storms and tornadoes in the US in February, with an insured loss of $1.4bn.