Insurer FMG hit by storms

Rural insurer FMG yesterday reported its March year net profit halved to $13.53 million, with last year's extreme weather storms hitting its performance.

It was hit by a $10 million general insurance claims increase with $16.4 million of claims from extreme weather events, including the snow storms in Canterbury and floods in Northland.

As well it suffered a $5.1 million drop in investment income from record highs in 2005-6 and a $5.9 million write off from a discontinued software project.

These setbacks were offset by $8.9m from the sale of the Australian businesses and FMG's life insurance business in New Zealand.

Outgoing chairman Peter Jensen said the highlight of the result was a 7.2 per cent growth in premiums, ahead of the market average.