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Aspen braces for $50m of catastrophe losses

Major event: smoke and fire rises after an explosion at Tianjin port in China, in August. Aspen Insurance Holdings estimates it is facing $30 million of pre-tax losses related to the incident

Aspen Insurance Holdings estimates it faces about $50 million in pre-tax losses from the Tianjin port explosion in China, wildfires in the US and last month’s earthquake in Chile.

The company said the losses primarily impact Aspen’s reinsurance segment.

Of those losses, an estimated $30 million is related to the explosions at the port in the Chinese city of Tianjin, in August.

Aspen also estimates pre-tax losses of up to $20 million, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, related to natural catastrophes in the third quarter of 2015. Within the estimated natural catastrophe losses, the largest events were wildfires in Washington State and the Illapel earthquake in Chile.

In a statement, the company said: “In the absence of significant client loss reporting in respect of both the Tianjin explosion and the natural catastrophes, we have based our estimates primarily on market information and exposure analysis, among other factors.

“Due to the complexity of the events and the uncertainty in its assumptions, Aspen’s actual ultimate loss may vary materially from these estimates.”

Aspen is due to report its third quarter results on November 2.