November 2005/3

Talanx is reported to have trumped the aggressive US buy-out firm Cerberus Capital Management for the prize of fellow German insurer Gerling Group. Talanx – which is reducing its majority stake in reinsurer Hannover Re – has not revealed terms of...

Dublin-headquartered Cologne Reinsurance Ltd had its financial strength rating downgraded to A- from A++ by AM Best on 7 November. The ratings agency also downgraded the reinsurers credit rating to a- from aa+ and the firm remains under review with...

Lloyd’s and Willis both received the go-ahead last week to extend their business interests in China. On 9 November Lloyd’s was granted a licence for onshore reinsurance. Chinese President Hu Jinta made the announcement while on last week’s state...

American International Group (AIG) is to restate its financials for the second time this year after finding an additional £500mn of income through accounting errors. The company explained that the discovery would delay the filing of its Form 10-Q...

Run-off vehicle Equitas could face a worst-case scenario where it was under-capitalised by £500mn warned rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P). And the fear of that possibility remains one of the biggest threats to Lloyd’s A rating, which is...

The advisors to a controversial scheme of arrangement have withdrawn their appeal leaving an untidy High Court decision apparently at odds with legal developments. When the proposed British Aviation Insurance Company (BAIC) scheme of arrangement...

Profits for the first nine months of 2005 were up to £378mn at Royal & Sun Alliance (R&SA), a rise of £370mn from the same period last year. The figures included a boost of £126mn from changes to a UK pension scheme and were backed up by an...

Markel suffered a poor third quarter with the insurer feeling the impact of hurricanes from the last two seasons. The American firm announced a net loss of $111mn or $11.31 per diluted share, compared to a profit of $13.8mn, or $1.40 a diluted...

Despite announcing third quarter net profits up 69.7 percent to EUR794mn on the prior-year period, German insurance giant Allianz is reportedly still preparing to slash thousands of jobs, as the company continues to restructure its operations.

Berkshire Hathaway announced its third quarter net earnings were $586mn, or $381 a share, down 48.5 percent from the $1.14bn, or $739 a share, for the same period in 2004. Earnings were hit by current loss estimates of $2.99bn from hurricanes...

Hurricane hit Bermudian reinsurer PXRE Group has bought $300mnn of reinsurance protection via a catastrophe bond following the third quarter storms. The cover will protect the reinsurer from extreme catastrophe losses arising from hurricanes in the...

Operating profit at Hannover Re has plummeted by 84.4 percent to EUR63.8mn for the year up to 30 September the company announced on 10 November. Profits at the reinsurer were hit by a third quarter catastrophe loss of EUR781.4mn, with losses for...