Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Insurers Report Record Profits

Florida Consumer Network, a statewide affiliate of the Consumer Federation of America reported today that "Property/casualty insurers are on track to enjoy the third most profitable year in their history despite the negative impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on their bottom lines . . . ."

According to CFA:
The property/casualty insurance industry saw after-tax profits of $30.9 billion in the first six months of 2005, according to data recently released by the insurance industry ratemaking organization, the Insurance Services Office (ISO). “Had Hurricanes Katrina and Rita not occurred, that figure would have doubled to $61.8 billion in after-tax profits for the full year.
CFA also has estimates that hurricanes Katrina and Rita likely will require payouts for insured losses along the Gulf Coast of $ 34.4 billion. This will be reduced by corporate-rate tax savings of $26.4 billion for the industry as a whole, according to CFA.

Projecting current trends forward through the last two and a half months of the year, analyst J. Robert Hunter said after paying all hurricane claims, stockholder dividends, and taxes, the property/casualty industry as a whole will enjoy near-record profits of $34.9 billion for the entire year of 2005.

1 comment:

RightDemocrat said...

I am so sick of hearing the whining from the poor pitiful insurance companies who like to collect premiums but make excuses about paying claims. We need to elect a chief financial officer who will really regulate the insurance industry.