SYDNEY, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Insurance Australia Group IAG.AX on Friday posted a 41 percent drop in full-year net profit hurt by higher claim costs from a cyclone-strength storm that battered Australia's east coast and other weather calamities early in the year.
IAG (LONDON:ICAG), which specialises in motor and property insurance, said net profit fell to A$728 million ($533.77 million) compared with A$1.23 billion a year ago. Insurance profit fell 30 percent.
It had a reported insurance margin of 10.7 percent for the year, the lower end of its target range of 10.5 percent to 12.5 percent following claims from the storms in New South Wales state, a hailstorm in Sydney and Tropical Cyclone Marcia earlier this year.
IAG, in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) Inc BRKa.N bought a 3.7 percent stake, said it expects a reported insurance margin of 14-16 percent for the current financial year ending June 2016 while underlying profitability is expected to be "consistent" with that of FY15. ($1 = 1.3639 Australian dollars)