Pend Insurance Issues Earnings Warning

Ostingele - The Pend Insurance corporation issued a press statement today warning investors of the firm's upcoming earnings report. The company, which has a successful track record as an insurer and investment brokerage, has recently suffered significant losses and writeoffs due to the continued successes of the Caldari Protectorate in the Essence, Placid, and Verge Vendor regions.

The statement came on the heels of a press release issued by the Bank of Luminaire, a partner of Pend Insurance and one of its major underwriters, stating that the Bank could no longer invest equity in Pend's shares. This lack of an available line of credit with which to operate and make loss payments has put Pend Insurance in a difficult financial position, and some analysts predict bankruptcy on the horizon.

Though only Pend's situation has been made public thus far, the problem is far more wide-ranging. "I don't think people realize just how disruptive to the economy the ongoing militia war with the Caldari is," said Petryn Rout, a professor of economics at Caille University. "In addition to material and resources destroyed in the fighting, virtually all new investment in these regions has ground to a halt." Rout pointed to a host of half-finished development projects, hastily abandoned in the face of the Caldari advance.

Ostingele, the star system in which the headquarters of Pend Insurance is located, is currently under Caldari control. Though Pend Insurance has continued to operate throughout the crisis, there is growing uncertainty about the company's future.  One senior Pend financial analyst observed, "With the system firmly in the hands of the State, there are a number of new questions before us now, questions we'd never thought to consider. For instance, to whom should we be paying our taxes?"