Floods may erode GIC Re's margins

The recent floods in Australia and Brazil are likely to impact the bottomline of National Reinsurer GIC Re .

Mr Yogesh Lohiya, Chairman and Managing Director of GIC Re, said the reinsurer has some exposure in these countries and will incur some losses. However, he did not quantify the impact as loss assessments are still going on.

“The total losses due to the floods are pegged at around $10 billion. However, we will have to wait and see how much of this is economic loss and what is insured loss”, he said. The impact on GIC Re will be known only by month-end, he added.

GIC Re has been continuously increasing its presence in the international markets in the past few years. Currently, international operations constitute 44 per cent of the total business and its share is expected to go up to 50 per cent by year end, said Mr Lohiya.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the 4{+t}{+h} India Rendezvous organised by the Asia Insurance review and GIC Re.

IOC fire

The reinsurer is also expected to incur a claim of Rs 9 crore due to the loss from the fire at Indian Oil Corporation's storage depot in Maharashtra. Mr Lohiya said the total loss from the fire will be around Rs 20 crore.

ICC World cup

Mr Lohiya said the cover to ESPN, the official broadcaster for the ICC Cricket World cup has been finalised. ESPN has taken a cover of Rs 600 crore for a premium of Rs 9 crore for the World Cup starting from February. The cover will include a terrorism cover and a weather disruption cover, said Mr Lohiya.

However, discussions are still going on for purchase of insurance cover by BCCI.

Asian reinsurance hub

Also speaking in the summit, Mr Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Finance, said the time is right for creating an Asian reinsurance hub in India. With GIC Re emerging as a major reinsurer among South East Asian and SAARC countries, India can emerge as Asia's reinsurance hub, said Mr Lohiya. However, for that, foreign reinsurers will have to be allowed to set up branches in India.