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A class action could be looming for QBE Insurance Group Limited (ASX:QBE) following a profit downgrade at the end of last year which sent the company’s shares south.
Disgruntled shareholders of Australia’s largest insurance company have turned to Maurice Blackburn Lawyers who are investigating if their claims have merit. The lawyers claim it is very likely QBE will face a class action if enough shareholders register their claims concerning last year’s surprise loss.
QBE’s shock profit guidance in December last year warned of a full year loss and resulted in its largest single day stock drop in more than 10 years with the stock plunging 22.3 per cent.
News of the possible lawsuit comes days after Belinda Hutchinson retired from the QBE board as Chair and was replaced by Marty Becker. The Chairman’s succession was announced to the market on the same day QBE forecast its full year loss on December 9, 2013.
The insurance giant has also this week held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and predicted its US business to stabilise and return to profitability this year.
QBE Insurance Group swung from a profit to a loss of $273 million in the 2013 calendar year.
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