Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (“Aspen” or the “Company”) (NYSE:AHL) today announced an estimate of losses from the Tohoku Earthquake, which occurred off the coast of Northeast Japan and the ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011 (“the Tohoku Earthquake”) and commented on current market conditions.

Chief Executive Officer Chris O’Kane said, “We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to all of those impacted by the events in Japan and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. We remain committed to providing continued support to our clients at this very difficult time.”

The Company’s initial estimate of losses from the Tohoku Earthquake is approximately $160 million, post tax and net of reinstatement premiums, and is consistent with an industry insured loss of $30 billion. This represents 5 percent of shareholders’ equity as at December 31, 2010.

The estimate is based on the Company’s review of the market loss, the individual treaties and policies expected to be impacted and discussions with clients and brokers. Given the magnitude and recent occurrence of these events, there is considerable uncertainty associated with this estimate and actual losses may differ materially.

Commenting on current market conditions, Chris O’Kane said, “The Tohoku earthquake has contributed to an extremely active first quarter in terms of natural catastrophe events, and we believe that it is important to highlight a positive change in trading conditions and market sentiment which took place in March. We had anticipated that rates for our property reinsurance account would reduce by between 5 percent and 10 percent in the April renewals whereas we have achieved average rate increases of 5 percent. This understates the improvement as approximately 40 percent of April renewal premium was quoted or completed prior to the Tohoku Earthquake. Furthermore, we are aware of 17 catastrophe programs where the placement had initially been quoted pre the Tohoku earthquake and, which had to be re-priced to secure completion.”

Chris O’Kane further commented, “We believe that the catastrophe events in the first quarter, combined with low investment returns and the profound change in exposure modelling implied by the latest release from one of the principle vendor modelling agencies, have created conditions for much better pricing for catastrophe exposed property lines of business. Up to 35 percent of our 2011 business could consequently be subject to meaningful positive price changes. Our balance sheet remains strong and we believe that we are well positioned to benefit from an improved pricing environment.”

About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

The Company provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in various domestic and global markets through wholly-owned subsidiaries and offices in Bermuda, France, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2010, the Company reported gross written premiums of $2,076.8 million, net income of $312.7 million and total assets of $8.8 billion. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a financial strength rating of “A” (“Strong”) by Standard & Poor's, an “A” (“Excellent”) by A.M. Best and an “A2” (“Good”) by Moody's Investors Service.

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 its initial estimate of losses from the Tohoku Earthquake that took place on March 11, 2011, changes in market conditions and their impact on Aspen’s business. 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, changes in demand for our insurance and reinsurance products and cyclical changes in insurance and reinsurance sectors, changes in insurance and reinsurance market conditions and in respect of the losses from the Tohoku Earthquake that took place on March 11, 2011, developing information available from brokers, clients and loss adjusters, the receipt of actual loss reports, forecasts of losses relating to these events for the industry as a whole and for individual companies, changes in the total industry losses or the Company's share of such losses, the actual number of the Company’s insureds incurring losses from these events, limitations in current modeling techniques and their application, the impact of any demand surge on claims, coverage issues, the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations and the effectiveness of any of the Company’s loss limitation methods. 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 25, 2011. 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.

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