Aspen Insurance Holdings Announces Preliminary Loss Estimates for First Quarter 2010 Catastrophes
March 29 2010 - 8:30AM
Business Wire
Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (“Aspen”) (NYSE:AHL) today
announced its preliminary loss estimates for the earthquake which
struck off of the southern coast of Chile on February 27, 2010,
European Windstorm Xynthia and the Australian hailstorms and
floods.
Aspen’s preliminary loss estimate for the Chilean earthquake is
in the range of $70 million to $110 million, net of tax and
reinstatement premiums. This loss is virtually all derived from
Aspen’s reinsurance operations with the Company’s insurance
business accounting for less than $0.5 million. Aspen’s reinsurance
exposure to this event mainly arises from the Company’s
international clients with worldwide operations, which include
Chile.
Aspen’s preliminary net after tax loss estimate for Windstorm
Xynthia is less than $5 million, net of reinstatement premiums,
with its reinsurance operations accounting for the entire loss.
The Company expects its exposure to the Australian hailstorms
and floods to be negligible.
Chris O’Kane, Chief Executive Officer said, “We are deeply
saddened by the tremendous human and economic losses caused by
these natural catastrophes and are entirely committed to supporting
our clients as they recover from the devastation. Aspen’s
diversified portfolio of insurance and reinsurance products
responded as we had expected for events such as the Chilean
earthquake, Windstorm Xynthia and the Australian hailstorms. This
demonstrates the strength of our risk management framework and
robust underwriting standards.”
Firm market loss estimates for the Chilean earthquake and
Windstorm Xynthia have yet to be determined and Aspen has received
only a very limited number of definitive loss notifications from
its reinsurance clients. However, Aspen’s initial investigation and
analysis to date suggest that total industry losses from the
Chilean earthquake will be in the region of $5 billion to $8
billion. Aspen estimates that Windstorm Xynthia may result in a
loss to the industry ranging from €1.25 billion to €2.5 billion.
Aspen’s company specific loss estimates are not developed solely on
market losses and therefore would not change in direct correlation
with any future increases or decreases to industry losses.
Aspen’s estimated losses from each of those events are
preliminary and involve the exercise of considerable judgment and
reflect a combination of ground-up evaluations, information
available to date from brokers, the application of Aspen’s
catastrophe modelling, industry losses, market intelligence,
initial tentative loss reports and other sources. Consequently, the
actual net impact on Aspen’s results arising from these events may
differ materially from the current estimate. Preliminary forecasts
of losses relating to the earthquake and after-shocks in Chile, for
the industry as a whole and for individual companies, are subject
to significant uncertainty due to limited actual loss data. As
additional loss information becomes available, we may revise this
estimate.
About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited
Aspen provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in
various domestic and global markets through wholly-owned
subsidiaries and offices in Bermuda, France, Ireland, Singapore,
the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. For the
twelve months ended December 31, 2009, Aspen reported gross written
premiums of $2,067.1 million, net income of $473.9 million and
total assets of $8.3 billion. Its operating subsidiaries have been
assigned a rating of “A” (“Strong”) by Standard & Poor’s, an
“A” (“Excellent”) by A.M. Best and an “A2” (“Good”) by Moody’s
Investors Service. For more information about Aspen, please visit
www.aspen.bm.
Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
This press release contains written, and Aspen's officers may
make related oral, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the U.S. federal securities laws regarding. These statements are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements include all statements that do not relate solely to
historical or current facts, and can be identified by the use of
words such as "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "project,"
"anticipate," "seek," "will," "estimate," "may," "continue," and
similar expressions of a future or forward-looking nature.
All forward-looking statements address matters that involve
risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated in these statements. Aspen believes
these factors include, but are not limited to: the possibility of
greater frequency or severity of or unanticipated losses from
natural or man-made catastrophes, including the Chilean Earthquake
and after-shocks, European windstorms and Australian hailstorms
than the Company's underwriting, reserving, reinsurance purchasing
or investment practices have anticipated; the level of inflation in
repair costs due to limited availability of labor and materials
after catastrophes; changes in the total industry losses, or the
Company's share of such losses, resulting from the Chilean
Earthquake, European windstorms and Australian hailstorms; the
actual number of the Company’s insureds incurring losses from these
events; evolving issues with respect to interpretation of coverage
of such events; the limited actual loss reports received from the
Company's insureds to date; the preliminary nature of possible loss
information received by brokers to date on behalf of cedants; the
Company's reliance on industry loss estimates and those generated
by modeling techniques; the effectiveness of the Company’s loss
limitation methods; changes in the availability, cost or quality of
reinsurance or retrocessional coverage; a decline in the operating
subsidiaries’ ratings with Standard & Poor’s, A.M. Best or
Moody’s; changes in general economic conditions; increased
competition on the basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or
other factors; decrease in demand for the Company’s insurance or
reinsurance products and cyclical downturn of the industry; changes
in governmental regulation or tax laws in the jurisdictions where
the Company conducts business; the impact of these catastrophes on
the Company’s reinsurers; the amount and timing of reinsurance
recoverables and reimbursements actually received by the Company
from its reinsurers; the overall level of competition in our lines
of business on the basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or
other factors, and the related demand and supply dynamics as
contracts come up for renewal. For a more detailed description of
these uncertainties and other factors which could cause results to
differ materially, please see the "Risk Factors" section in Aspen's
Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission on February 26, 2010. Aspen undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates
on which they are made.
Aspen Insurance (NYSE:AHL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Aspen Insurance (NYSE:AHL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024