HOUSTON, Nov. 16, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) advised today that anticipated gross claims from Hurricane Wilma are estimated at $30 million arising from aviation, property and other specialty lines of business. The net loss after reinsurance and including reinsurance reinstatement costs is estimated at $13.0 million after tax which will reduce fourth quarter earnings of the Company by approximately $0.12 per diluted share. This amount could be considerably less depending on how previous hurricane losses affect the Company's sophisticated reinsurance protection.
Stephen L. Way, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Although Wilma is not the magnitude of Katrina, it is the third major hurricane loss this year and should have a profound effect on rates in many of our specialty lines of business." Mr. Way added, "It is time for the industry to recognize the size and the frequency of the catastrophe events that it has to cover and charge appropriate premiums to pay for them."
HCC is an international insurance holding company and a leading specialty insurance group since 1974, based in Houston, Texas with offices across the USA and in Bermuda, England and Spain. HCC is traded on the NYSE (symbol: HCC), has assets exceeding $6.6 billion and is rated AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor's and A+ (Superior) by A. M. Best Company.
For more information, visit our website at www.hcch.com.
The HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. company logo can be found at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1977
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made under "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The types of risks and uncertainties which may affect the Company are set forth in its periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.