The superstorm has taken its toll on the states and insurers are starting to release their numbers.
AIG has announced that it expects to have lost $2 billion in pre-tax costs due to superstorm Sandy’s impact on the United States.
This was revealed at the same time that it said it would be making a $5 billion sale of its aircraft leasing business.
The storm, which smashed its way across the American Northeast coast led to more than 100 deaths and made insurance news with its vast amounts of property damage, including to the headquarters of the insurer, itself, which is located in New York. In November, the chief executive of AIG, Robert Benmosche, stated that he did not view Sandy as being a “significant” financial problem for the insurer.
That said, after house trading led to a drop of 2 percent as the details of the insurance news were revealed. AIG had stated that its after-tax losses, net of reinsurance, would likely come to around $1.3 billion, and would be seen in the earnings of the fourth quarter. This may represent a considerable change from the original predictions, said the company.
In separate but simultaneous insurance news, AIG also revealed that it had just closed a deal to sell its aircraft leasing business for approximately $5 billion to a Chinese consortium. This may represent the largest Chinese acquisition of a company in the United States.
The insurer had revealed that it was already in negotiations for selling a stake of 90 percent of the International Lease Finance Corporation to a New China Trust led group called New China Life Insurance and P3 Investments. This insurance news would include both ICBC International and China Aviation Industrial Fund.
According to an insurance news statement made by the group, “AIG has consistently stated that ILFC is a non-core asset.” It went on to state that “Any possible transaction involving ILFC would be subject to required regulatory approvals, including those in the US and China, and customary closing conditions.”
