ICBC sees dip in profits due to investment losses

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) reported a profit of Cdn$437 million for the first nine months of 2008, 15% lower than for the same period last year of Cdn$513 million.”This decrease is largely the result of a decline in investment income, which stood at Cdn$360 million year-to-date for the third quarter of 2008, compared to Cdn$526 million for the first three quarters of 2007,” an ICBC release says.ICBC predicts the recent financial market turmoil will have a more substantial and negative impact on the corporation’s fourth quarter.Underwriting income grew to Cdn$152 million for the first nine months of 2008, an increase from the Cdn$56 million in the same period of last year.The number of insured vehicles on BC’s roads was up 70,000 in the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period last year, although in the last few months this growth has been slowing, the release adds.ICBC reported the net claims costs incurred during the first nine months of 2008 as Cdn$2.01 billion, compared to Cdn$1.991 billion in the same period of last year. It noted in a release that there was a slow down in the growth of claims costs during the 2008 Q3 “in part due to a number of claims-reduction initiatives at ICBC, less rain than is usually seen in the first nine months of the year, and a moderation in vehicle population growth.”