Catlin guesses NZ quake cost at £77m

Initial estimates by insurance underwriter Catlin put the cost of the recent earthquake in New Zealand at about US$125m (£77.5m).The quake near Christchurch - 6.3 of the Richter scale - killed over 150 people on 22 February and caused massive damage to the local infrastructure."This estimate is subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty," Catlin warned. "It will be many months until the total amount of insured damage arising from this catastrophe can be estimated with precision."US bank JP Morgan thinks the final bill for the disaster will be $12bn (£7.5bn), making it the second most expensive in history for the insurance industry.Profits fell sharply at Catlin in the year to 31 December as natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand forced the property insurer to pay out for claims. Pre-tax profits fell to $406m (£252m) from $603m the previous year. Catastrophe losses amounted to more than $200m, compared to no such losses in 2009. Castelnau Group