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Currency shifts affect Crawford

Crawford & Company, which specialises in claims management solutions, has blamed the fall in its first quarter consolidated revenues on the negative effect of foreign currency fluctuations. Revenues reached $236.1m (£156.2m) compared with $255.5m in the first quarter of 2008. Net income was also down at $3.1m compared with $9.1m last year. The company said that revenues, net income and diluted earnings per share were all badly affected by increased pension and restructuring costs.

Swiss Re’s net profit dips

Swiss Re has reported net profit of CHF150m (£89.6m)for the first quarter of 2009, down on the CHF0.6bn net profit for the same period last year. An analyst report from Collins Stewart said: “We would not assume that losses are at an end but, with securitised asset prices showing some stability since quarter-end and the core businesses performing reasonably well, we think the likelihood that Swiss Re can self-fund any further losses has increased materially with the Q1 disclosures.”

AIG’s Q1 losses rally from 2008

AIG has reported a $4.35bn (£2.8bn) loss for the first quarter of 2009, following its $62bn loss for the last quarter of 2008. The company attributed the Q1 loss to “a number of restructuring and market disruption-related charges and accounting charges related to taxes”. Edward Liddy, AIG chairman and chief executive officer, said the results reflected the company’s efforts to execute its plans to maximize the value of its core businesses and repay US taxpayers.

Beazley’s GWPs lift to £256m

Beazley’s gross written premiums increased by 27% to £256m for the first quarter of 2009. The company said rates rose significantly in it its short tail catastrophe exposed classes, while declines were bottoming out in its medium tail casualty business. Andrew Horton, its chief executive, said the investment environment was still challenging but the company would continue to de-risk its portfolio and supplement the healthy underwriting profits now in prospect.

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