Reinsurance Group of America has estimated a drop in fourth quarter operating profits, mainly due to high claims levels in its US unit, lower returns on its investment portfolio and reserve additions for its Argentine pension business.
The insurer said yesterday that it expected fourth quarter earnings, excluding capital gains and losses and discontinued operations, of $0.01 to $0.05 per share. This is sharply down from the $0.72 per share it reported for the same period last year.
Including the effects of capital gains and losses and discontinued operations, Reinsurance Group expects to post a loss of $0.55 to $0.59 per share for the fourth quarter, compared with income of $0.19 cents per share last year.
The fourth quarter results are expected on 24 January 2002.
