March 2004/1

Insurers are pleased with initial developments as faults appear in arguments of WTC leaseholder Silverstein and broker Willis WTC leaseholder Silverstein Properties and reinsurer Swiss Re finally made it to court last month to decide whether the 9/11 a

AIG's glow dulled by criticism February was a memorable month for AIG and its legendary patriarch Hank Greenberg but not all for the right reasons. It started off well, as the Group revealed a "record" 68 percent leap in earnings. But subsequent events -

The Catlin insurance group finally announced its intention to take advantage of buoyant investor interest by floating on the London Stock Exchange. In a 3 March announcement, the insurer said the offering, expected to be completed by April 2004, will c

Troubled French reinsurer SCOR revealed the extent events of the last few months have impacted its business prospects on 26 February, admitting 2004 gross premiums are likely to fall 29 percent in non-life and 11 percent in its life reinsurance unit. B

Despite delivering consensus earnings and double-digit growth, Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) saw its share price decline to close on Friday 27 February at 541p, down from 595.5p at the beginning of the month. Sellers of the stock appeared to be unnerve

Aon's 2003 results were broadly in line with analysts' expectations, with net earnings growing by more than a third and positive work done on de-leveraging the balance sheet with more debt being repaid early. But despite this progress, operating earnings

ZFS impresses, but rating agencies reserve judgment A year after booking a record $3.36bn loss blighted by equity write-downs, restructuring costs and reserve charges, Swiss giant Zurich Financial Services (ZFS) announced a return to a healthy $2.12bn ne

Isle of plenty as start-ups continue to stride forward and the established set reaches maturity Arch rivals fellow start-ups Arch Re followed its fellow Bermudian post-9/11 start-ups by announcing a strident set of results on 17 February, booking net

AIG storms back The world's most valuable insurer AIG posted fourth quarter profits of $2.71bn, or $1.03 per share, with higher general insurance premiums and revenues contributing to the bottom line. Net income for the full year rocketed 68 percent t

Willis Group finished 2003 with a healthy organic growth of 15 percent for the year as it revealed total revenues had grown 20 percent to $2076mn. Net income for the final quarter was static at $118mn with 2002 but overall earnings almost doubled for t

London headquartered broker HLF will continue to strip away its layers by transferring its troubled Australian subsidiary Heath Lambert Australia Pty Ltd to Marsh, the world's largest broker. Traditionally a strong performer, the Australian subsidiary

Swiss Re, AIG and others win battle against summary judgment A period of frenetic litigation came to a head last month in a court case brought by oil giant BP against Swiss Re, AIG, AXA, ACE, Aegis and other international insurers for their refusal to