Losses from the Brisbane hailstorms are filtering into financial results, with Allied World reporting the storms and Typhoon Rammasun cost its reinsurance division $US22 million ($23.24 million) in the fourth quarter.

The Swiss-based insurer and reinsurer last week reported a profit of $US490.3 million ($629.45 million) for last calendar year, up 18%.

Gross written premium grew 7% to $US2.74 billion ($3.52 million) and the combined operating ratio was 85.2%, compared with 86.2% in 2013.

Allied World opened a Sydney branch last year to handle local business, and in August announced it would gain scale in Asia by acquiring Royal & Sun Alliance’s (RSA) Hong Kong and Singapore operations.

President and CEO Scott Carmilani says the company is well positioned as it closes the RSA acquisitions, and it sees attractive opportunities across its platforms.