The administrators of Quinn Insurance Limited have announced the company lost €706m in 2009, the year before the administrators were appointed.
€559m of this was operating losses, and €147m was due to write-downs of assets.
€333m of the loss comes from the UK insurance business, the bulk of that loss relating to non-motor insurance.
The administrators said the company's performance in 2009 and 2010 would contribute to a call on the Insurance Compensation Fund totalling €600m, with the first call on the fund of approximately €180m occurring in late 2011.
In a press conference this afternoon, the administrators said the deal to sell the company to US insurance giant Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank was the ‘best’ that could be achieved for the ‘Irish economy’.
Liberty will inject €102m and Anglo will put in €98m to recapitalise the new company, which will be known as Liberty Mutual Direct insurance.
The company will continue to employ all 1570 staff-members at its three locations in Fermanagh, Cavan and Blanchardstown.
Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton said the sale preserves jobs on both sides of the border and ensures competition in the insurance market.
Responding to questions about where things had gone wrong for Quinn Insurance, the administrators said the company had entered the UK market at a time when that market was suffering significant losses.
A statement from the Quinn family released this evening said they are ‘dismayed and saddened’ at what they described as the undermining of the company since the appointment of administrators.
The family also called on the Government to make public all documents relating to the work of the Joint Administrators and the involvement of Anglo Irish Bank with Liberty Mutual.
‘If this does not happen then the cover-up of the erosion of value at the expense of the Irish taxpayer at Quinn Insurance will never be revealed.’
The Central Bank also issued a statement saying: ‘The need to access the ICF is not unexpected in light of the serious and persistent solvency problems at QIL which led to its administration.’
The administrators said they had been in contact with staff today and that employees were 'very happy' with the news of the sale.
The administrators said it 'was a good day'.
They also said no decision had been taken on the branding Quinn Insurance would now use.
