Market analysts have been monitoring the share price of reinsurer/insurer Alea Group for some months now. The company recently issued its projections for 2005, where it said it was comfortable with the $55m (£29.3m) net loss estimate for last year's hurricane season and its exposure to the Asian tsunami was "minimal".
However, the insurer has had issues with its reserves for prior 2002 claims, particularly US casualty business written between 1999 and 2002, the majority attributable to five non-core reinsurance accounts in professional liability lines.
This strengthening of reserves will add 5-7 percentage points to its 95.7% combined ratio recorded in the first half of 2004. The full extent of the internal report will not be available until March, which breeds uncertainty among investors.
From a high of 273p last March the share price keeps dropping and stands at around the 182p mark this week.
