US insurer AIG records up to $2bn losses

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American International Group (AIG) expects a 2-billion-US-dollar hit in the third quarter of this year following a trio of major hurricanes in the Americas and a catastrophic earthquake in Mexico, the insurer has said.

AIG estimates pre-tax losses of between 2.9 billion and 3.1 billion US dollars, with the breakdown of above 1 billion US dollars each for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, 600 to 700 million from Hurricane Maria and 150 million from other events, including the earthquake in Mexico.

Those are the expected losses to AIG following reinsurance claims. AIG estimates the impact after taxes to be between 1.9 and 2 billion US dollars.

AIG headquarters‍ in New York City, photo from CNBC.com

The estimate includes the toll from biblical-scale flooding in Houston during Hurricane Harvey, repeated battering of the Caribbean from Irma and Maria and the Mexico calamity that claimed more than 360 lives.

AIG chief executive Brian Duperreault said the series of catastrophes marked an "unprecedented" period of disaster.

"Through AIG's financial strength and long experience with natural catastrophes, our teams across the company have reacted quickly to provide our clients with the claim funds, resources and expertise they need to recover and rebuild with greater resilience," he said.

AIG said the figures were preliminary and that the final number could be significantly different.

Shares of AIG fell by 1.2% to after hours trading to 61.05 US dollars.

Source(s): AFP