November 2005/3

Willis has announced a second offering for the sale of 6.1mn shares currently held by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Fisher Capital. Willis is planning to purchase 1.5mn of the shares in a private transaction with the remaining shares being...

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...

UK insurer Brit Insurance Holdings plc has reiterated its determination to pay a full dividend this year despite now estimating a £182.5mn bill from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. There was concern among some investors that Brit might reduce...

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...

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...

Omega Underwriting Holdings plc is the latest Lloyd’s insurer to both raise money through a placing and unveil plans to form a Bermudian platform following the trio of hurricanes that raged this autumn. As predicted by Insider Week last Monday...