Insurers Upbeat Despite Sept. 11 Ruling

German insurance giants Allianz and Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, estimated Tuesday that their full-year earnings would not be hit by a US court ruling that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center constituted two events, not one, a decision that paves the way for developer Larry Silverstein to claim an extra $1.1 billion (€800 million) in insurance claims. The trade center was insured for a total of $3.5 billion by insurance firms. For Allianz, whose Allianz Global Risks unit was one of the insurers, "this decision will translate into a net supplementary charge of a maximum of €80 million after resinsurance," an Allianz spokesman said. Nevertheless, the sum was not final and would depend on the outcome of out-of-court negotiations with Silverstein, the spokesman added. He declined to reveal Allianz's total exposure to the attacks, but insisted that the additional charge would not have a negative impact on Allianz's overall group earnings. Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, also said the ruling "will not have any effect on earnings" and "will not lead us to make any additional provisions on our balance sheet." Overall, Munich Re estimated that its total exposure to the attacks amounted to €2.6 billion.