IAG

Insurance firm IAG (ASX:IAG) has released its first half results to shareholders, investors and traders.

• Insurance Australia Group IAG half year Net Profit $416 million, up from $144 million in the previous corresponding period.
• Chief executive Mike Wilkins said, "This is a strong half year result and, based on the momentum in the business, we're confident about our outlook."
• Cash profit $684 million, up from $155 million

Australian based insurer, IAG Limited (ASX:IAG) has released their full year financial results to the ASX stockmarket.

• Net profit falls to $207 million, down $17.2 million
• UK operations write-down in value. $297 million writedown of asset value and goodwill of British business.
• IAG cash profit (without the write-down) is $583 million, up 17.5 percent.

The holidays are over and companies are back in business to face the new year for the rollercoaster ride of share prices. The lists below are a record of the best and worst traded stocks in the ASX100, ASX200 and All Ordinaries in the Australian Securities Exchange in the first week of 2012, January 2-6, 2012.

Best Performing Trade Stocks ASX100 (XTO)

ASX100

The list below is a record of the top ten best and worst traded stocks in the ASX100, ASX200, and All Ordinaries of the Australian Stock Exchange in the 49th week of 2011, from December 5 to 9, 2011.

Best Performing Trade Stocks ASX100 (XTO)

ASX100

1. BlueScope Steel (BSL) closed its price at 43 cents adding $0.05 or 13.16%

There are no floats but there are a couple of ex-dividends scheduled for tomorrow and there are many companies which have scheduled their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday October 26, 2011.

Annual General Meetings

Here is a list of companies who have scheduled an AGM today:

For the start of September, there are no companies scheduled to float but there are 15 stocks that will go ex-dividend and two companies that will have their general meeting.

Dividends

Stocks from AAX, APN, BPA, CGF, FGL, GZL, IAG, IFL, KAT, SHL, SHV, SRV, TRG, TTS, and TWE will go on ex-dividend on September 1, 2011.

The June Christchurch earthquake and its resulting new claims failed to shake Insurance Australia Group's (ASX:IAG) financial guidance for 2011. IAG confirmed its guidance despite claims worth $65 million.

Costs due to natural disasters jumped to about $600 million for the year to end of June, nearly a 50 percent rise from the $435 million it forecast at the beginning of the financial year.

Although Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) said today that it's too early to evaluate the impact of the Christchurch tremors, it has reaffirmed its underlying gross premium growth guidance of three to five percent.

The company also plans to speed up future growth and intents to get 10 percent of its gross written premium from Asia by 2016. Expansion would cover Malaysia, Thailand, India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

In the aftermath of the Queensland disaster, the head of Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) proposed more aggressive safety measures so that all concerned are treated fairly. Chief Executive Mike Wilkins enumerated safety measures in the wake of allegations of neglect from policy holders, during a lunch meeting yesterday at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.