SCOR, the French insurer and reinsurer, expects its losses for 2001 to hit €250m (£154.3m) after large losses in the fourth quarter.
The company made the warning today ahead of its full year results, which are due out in March.
It said it had received claims in December totalling more than the combined claims for the first nine months of the year. These included losses arising from the 11 September US terrorist attacks.
It said overall costs associated with the World Trade Centre disaster were still in line with projections made soon after 11 September.
It added that investment results had been hit by the weakness of the Euro and financial markets.
The company has already pulled out of the health sector in the US and will now follow suit in the rest of the world.
It is also pulling out of the US programme business market which has generated heavy losses in recent years.
It has increased its underwriting capacity in property and casualty by 25% through the establishment of Dublin-based Irish Reinsurance Partners Limited.
The company said in a statement: "Despite the sharp deterioration in the 4th quarter, the impact of which is particularly severe at the end of an exceptional year of claims, SCOR remains ideally positioned to fully exploit the opportunities provided by the cycle upturn."
Scor said premium income was up by 25% at the end of September on a comparable, consolidated basis and predicted this would be confirmed or surpassed for the whole year.
It added that its market share increased last year, and January renewals, particularly in property and casualty and its business solutions divisions, boded well for the future.
It said: "Given the current rise in its underwriting capacity, the increase in market share and higher pricing for renewals, SCOR now has all the required means for benefiting fully from the new cyclical upturn and returning to a satisfactory level of profitability in 2002."
