Profits at Japan's 11 major nonlife insurance companies plunged sharply in the fiscal first half to Sept. 30, due to falling share prices and large reserves set aside for claims related to the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

Combined payments related to the attacks reached 193 billion yen, according to the companies' business results, announced Tuesday.

As an industry realignment proceeds, the results illustrated the widening gap between the strong and weak, with four of the smallest slipping into the red on a pretax basis.