Catlin faces up to "unprecedented" catastrophes

A series of "catastrophe events" has battered the speciality insurance firm Catlin resulting in losses of $670m.

The main problems for the firm have been floods in Thailand and Denmark, and Hurricane Irene, which damaged parts of the Caribbean, the US and Canada back in August.

The investment performance of Catlin has seen a return of 2.7% leaving total cash and investments at $8.4bn, up 5% on December 2010.

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Gross written premiums were up 12% at $3.7bn. The leading sectors for Catlin were Reinsurance at $1,481m and Casualty at $670m.

Stephen Catlin, the group's Chief Executive described 2011 as having an "unprecedented" number of catastrophes while adding:

"We believe that fundamental changes in the marketplace are on the horizon as a result of the series of catastrophe losses, several years of falling rates for many classes of business, the challenging investment environment and the increasing strain on some insurers' and reinsurers' balance sheets."

BS