Axis Capital Hit With $300M In Sandy Claims
Bermuda re/insurer Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. estimated that it will lose about $300 million paying claims from Superstorm Sandy.
The projected setback announced Monday [Dec.17] wasn’t enough to deter Axis Capital from raising its quarterly stock dividend by four percent and announcing a new share buyback programme.
Axis Capital based its estimated losses on information provided by its policyholders, insurance brokers and claims adjusters surveying the damage left behind by Sandy, which ravaged New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other Eastern states in late October.
The company, which has its head office on Pitts Bay Road, earlier announced a quarterly dividend on Monday with investors of record on Monday, December 31 to be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share on Tuesday, January 15.
This represents a $1.00 annualised dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81 per cent.
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And the company also said it will spend up to $750 million buying back its stock through the end of 2014. The commitment replaces another stock repurchase program set to expire at the end of this year.
Axis Capital’s stock gained 21 cents Monday to close at $35.81.
