Insurance Australia Group is the most recent insurance firm to report a poor performance for the previous fiscal year, as the season for reporting profit has turned sour for investors in insurance shares.

Mike Wilkins, managing director of IAG, revealed the previous day that the firm's net profit would post at $91 million, which is fall of 50 per cent from the previous fiscal year.

A huge writedown on its business in UK and claims blowouts following the March troubles in Perth and Melbourne were the major reasons for its fall in fiscal performance.

"The second half of the result has borne in excess of $200 million of net pre-tax claim costs in respect of the unprecedented Melbourne and Perth storms in March, as well as the $367 million charge required in our UK business following the deterioration in bodily injury claim experience," Mr. Wilkins stated.

"I'm confident our performance will improve significantly in 2011."

IAG is the third insurance firm since last week to announce it will fail to meet forecast profits for this reporting season.

Stocks analysts were heavily disappointed with IAG's announcement; however some analysts, including Peter Quinton of Bell Potter, had foreseen this wave of disappointing outcomes from the insurance industry.

"The IAG filing is a poorly put together announcement with important information missing but nonetheless negative in terms of the bottom line," Mr. Quinton remarked yesterday.