Hurricane Milton could cost insurers up to $100 bln, analysts say
Repeats with no change to text
Milton loss could reach $100 bln, matching Katrina
Possible loss of $60 bln would be similar to Ian
Reinsurance rates could increase and boost shares
By Carolyn Cohn and Noor Zainab Hussain
LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) -Hurricane Milton could result in losses of up $100 billion for the global insurance industry, creating a surge in 2025 reinsurance prices that could boost some insurance companies' shares, analysts said on Wednesday.
The Category 5 hurricane is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida late on Wednesday or early Thursday. It is potentially one of the most destructive yet to hit the region, which is recovering from devastation caused by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.
Insured losses from Milton could be from $60-$100 billion if the hurricane makes direct landfall in the densely populated area of Tampa, analysts at Morningstar DBRS said.
A loss of $100 billion would put Milton on a par with Katrina in 2005, they added, saying that insured losses would likely be "substantial but not catastrophic".
Katrina caused the largest insured loss from a hurricane.
The second largest loss came from Ian, which hit Florida in 2022 and led to losses of around $60 billion.
RBC analysts estimated Milton would lead to similar losses to Ian that should be "very manageable" for the insurance sector.
Analysts at Jefferies estimated a mid-double-digit billion dollar insured loss would follow a major hurricane impact in one of Florida's most heavily populated regions.
"A 1-in-100 year event is estimated by some to result in $175 billion in losses for landfall in the Tampa region, and $70 billion in losses in the Ft Myers region," they wrote in a note
INDUSTRY RESPONSE
Insurers and reinsurers - who insure the insurers - have responded to rising losses from natural catastrophes, which scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change, by raising rates and excluding higher-risk business.
"Better reinsurance contract terms, broader earnings diversification and bigger reserve buffers should put the sector in better stead than before," the RBC analysts said in a note.
Shares in global reinsurers Swiss Re SRENH.S and Munich Re MUVGn.DE and in Lloyd's of London SOLYD.UL players Beazley BEZG.L, Hiscox HSX.L and Lancashire LRE.L have fallen this week. Swiss Re, Munich Re and Beazley have been trading at record highs in recent weeks following strong profits.
"It's only a matter of time before shares regain lost ground as prospects of harder pricing at the subsequent (policy) renewals set in," RBC added.
Reinsurers fix prices for many insurance contracts on Jan. 1.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said on Wednesday that a major hurricane making landfall across Tampa Bay and travelling west across the Florida Peninsula would be similar to a realistic disaster scenario set out by Lloyd's earlier this year, which projected a $134 billion loss for the insurance sector.
Lloyd’s maintains a set of mandatory Realistic Disaster Scenarios to stress test both individual syndicates and the market as a whole. The event scenarios are regularly reviewed to ensure they represent material catastrophe risks.
Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Noor Zainab Hussain, editing by Sinead Cruise, Jane Merriman, Chizu Nomiyama and Barbara Lewis
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
