XL estimates catastrophe losses of $245M in fourth quarter

Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina

XL Group Ltd. said Tuesday that its 2016 fourth-quarter preliminary net loss estimate for natural catastrophes totaled roughly $245 million. 

XL said this is a pretax figure, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, and is split about $125 million in the insurance segment and $120 million in the reinsurance segment.

The estimate includes about $130 million in net losses from Hurricane Matthew, split nearly evenly between insurance and reinsurance; and about $75 million in net losses from the November earthquake activity in New Zealand, 75% in the reinsurance segment, XL said.

The remainder of the fourth-quarter catastrophe losses in the insurance segment resulted from smaller events in the fourth and previous quarters of 2016, XL said.

Actual losses may differ materially from the estimates, XL said.