QBE Insurance Group
(ASX:QBE) says its year to date insurance margins have been hit by lower investment yields and large claims.
QBE estimates it will face a $555 million bill for large risk and catastrophe claims up to the end of May, including $29 million for BP's Deepwater Horizon rig disaster that resulted in the Gulf oil spill.
In a briefing given to investors in London overnight QBE said it also expects its half year insurance profit margins to be at the lower end of its targeted range of 16% to 18%, notwithstanding difficult market conditions.
The catastrophe insurance bills were nearly $100 million more than last year's corresponding figure of $458 million, but they were well within QBE's budgeted figure for the full-year period of $1.1 billion.
Claim figures to date include $108 million incurred after the hail storm in Perth this year and $76 million for flooding and heavy rains that hit Melbourne.
Chief executive, Frank O'Halloran, told investors QBE’s projected revenue from gross written premiums for the 2010 financial year was now likely to exceed its initial expectation of 3% growth.
In the year to December 30 2009, QBE Insurance posted a $1.9 billion net profit.
