NewTianjin port blast claims seen manageable for China's insurers

Insurance companies are exposed to up to 10 billion yuan (HK$12.1 billion) in payouts as a result of the deadly explosions in the northern port city of Tianjin, but industry experts see the impact on insurers as manageable.

A series of explosions rocked Tianjin on Wednesday, leaving more than 100 people dead and hundreds injured, with extensive damage to surrounding property and infrastructure affecting 17,000 households and 1,700 enterprises.

The total claims from the disaster may range from five billion yuan to 10 billion yuan, with property losses taking up the biggest proportion, said Hao Yansu, the dean at the school of insurance, Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing.

"The gross property insurance premium income in China exceeded 800 billion yuan in 2014, a lot more than what the insurers need to pay this time," Hao said.

He said the incident may affect some companies' financial performance this year but in general its effect would not be devastating.

Arjan van Veen, head of Asian insurance equity research at Credit Suisse, said the accident may result in initial insured losses of US$1 billion to US$1.5 billion.