QBE CFO Neil Drabsch has buried a rumour that swept the sharemarket last week, saying the company doesn’t intend to take a second shot at buying IAG.

He told business cable channel CNBC on Friday “the scenario has changed” and QBE is now seeking offshore opportunities to take advantage of the rise of the Australian dollar.

The rumour emerged on Wednesday in the Australian Financial Review column Street Talk, which speculated that QBE was “once again running the numbers on IAG”.

In May last year the group made an unsuccessful $8.7 billion offer for IAG, but backed away when IAG resisted, accusing QBE of making “an opportunistic attempt” to capitalise on its weak share price.

Mr Drabsch told CNBC Australian insurance companies like IAG and Suncorp are “always in our sights,” but the global financial crisis has changed the situation.

The group’s foreign acquisitions are expected to provide a return on equity of over 20%, and “in the current conditions, however you do your sums… you’ll find that the returns to QBE on putting together the two companies, at any premium, would only give very modest earnings per share”.

“Earnings per share similarly would come under strain, particularly in the formative years,” he said.

IAG shares rose 5% through last week as the speculation became near-fact, but fell 6.7% to $3.93 at the end of Friday trading. QBE shares were up 1.1% at the close at $22.80.

[Also see ANALYSIS].