March 2006/2

Lloyd's today (6 April) reported a pre-tax loss of £103mn in its full-year results after absorbing the cost of the worst hurricane season on record.

Shares in Zurich Financial Services have leapt suddenly on suggestions of a takeover by US insurance St Paul Travelers.

Reinsurer considers share buybacks as capital surplus grows Strong investment performance enabled German giant Munich Re to shrug off it...

Inmarsat has become the first satellite operator to insure with newly launched space consortium LibSat.

UK Insurer Brit Insurance Holdings plc has replaced house broker Cenkos Securities Ltd with Citigroup while unveiling a 2005 profit created by an unexpectedly high release from prior-year reserves.

German insurer Allianz AG almost doubled profits last year, it announced today (16 March).

Start-up Lancashire Holdings’ financial strength rating has been placed under review by AM Best after the (re)insurer announced the departure of vice president Alex Richards.

Swiss reinsurer Converium today (15 March) announced net income of $68.7mn for 2005, with $34.2mn added to the total during the final quarter. The fourth quarter figure beat some analyst’s forecasts by close to $30mn, and provided a solid start for...

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) announced today (13 March) that it has downgraded The Cologne Re of Dublin (TCR) from AAA to A following its parent Berkshire Hathaway’s decision to put it into run-off last December. The reinsurer, which wrote...

UK broker Heath Lambert Group appointed Nigel Thomas as group finance director on 9 March. Thomas joined Lowndes Lambert in 1995 and was involved in the financial aspects of the Lowndes Lambert/Fenchurch Group merger and the subsequent Lambert...

Hannover Re has announced a restructure of its US arm Clarendon and admitted it will weigh up the options for the future of its ongoing specialty and discontinued programme businesses. In a statement on 7 March the German reinsurer revealed the...

UK insurer Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA) reported a £685mn leap in its full year after tax profits. After tax profits were £605mn last year, a marked improvement on 2004’s £80mn loss. Profits before tax rose to £865mn in 2005 from £80mn the previous...