Insurer braces for second quarter cat losses

Pembroke, Bermuda-based Validus Holdings Ltd. has estimated $60 million in net catastrophe losses from second quarter events, including recent Canadian wildfires and Texas hailstorms.

Validus Holdings said Monday net loss attributed to the company for the May wildfires around Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada was $26.9 million.

The company said its net losses for the Texas hailstorms that struck the Lone Star State in April and May totaled $10.3 million, while its net loss for the Kumamoto earthquakes in Japan in April totaled an estimated $15.3 million. Validus said it expects $7.5 million in losses from a shutdown of the Jubilee oilfield offshore Ghana in March and April.

Validus said the net $60 million loss is allocated by segment: Validus Re $38.7 million; Talbot $19.2 million; Western World $600,000; and AlphaCat $1.5 million.

As part of the loss evaluation process, Validus said it estimated the industry losses from Canadian wildfires to be $3.6 billion-$4.8 billion; Texas Hailstorms, $2.8 billion; Kumamoto Earthquake, $3 billion-$4 billion; and Jubilee Oil is estimated at over $1 billion.