United Fire Expects Catastrophe Loss Of Up To $23 Mln In Q2

(RTTNews) - Insurer United Fire Group Inc (UFCS) said Tuesday it expects its second quarter results to include pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of about $20 million to $23 million from spring storms. The estimated impact on second quarter earnings is $0.51 to $0.59 per share, after tax.

"Over the last 10 years, catastrophe losses for the second quarter have had an average impact of 8.8 percentage points on the combined ratio," stated Randy Ramlo, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The impact of these storms will cause us to exceed that average for the quarter. Though none of the individual storms had a material impact on our earnings, the aggregate of storms during the quarter is significant."

"We expect more than 1,500 claims from these catastrophic events," continued Ramlo. "These storms were numerous and were not confined to the Midwest, but rather, occurred from Montana to Texas to New Jersey."