Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer Argo Group expects to report losses of up to $18 million related to severe weather events in the three months from April to June.

The company announced yesterday that pre-tax losses of between $16 million and $18 million, to be reported in Argo's second-quarter results, would be attributed to 15 US weather events.

Tornadoes and floods brought severe and widespread damage, particularly in the Mid West, during the quarter.

Argo added that in the same quarter of 2007, pre-tax losses attributable to six severe US weather events totalled approximately $3.1 million.