Bermudian-based reinsurer Everest Re Group Ltd’s second-quarter net income was $155.7 million, down from $209.1 million in the same period last year.

However, earnings per diluted common share were $3.67, easily beating the $2.85 consensus forecast of analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance.

Gross written premiums were $1.4 billion, up 8 per cent year-on-year, and would have been 10 per cent had it not been for “unfavourable foreign currency fluctuations”.

Reinsurance premiums were up 1 per cent, on a constant dollar basis, and insurance premiums were up 32 per cent.

Everest’s combined ratio — the proportion of premium dollars spent on claims and expenses — was 95.1 per cent for the quarter compared to 88 per cent in the second quarter of 2015.

The company was hit by catastrophe losses from the Fort McMurray wildfires in Alberta, the Ecuador earthquake, and Texas hailstorms, which totalled $149.1 million, offset by reserve releases on several 2011 events. The net impact of these losses, after reinstatement premiums and taxes was $105.4 million.

Net investment income rose almost $8 million to $132.7 million.

“Everest’s six month annualised operating return on equity of 9.4 per cent is an excellent result given the number of catastrophe loss events, the impact of foreign currency movements around the world, and the continued low interest rate environment,” said Dominic Addesso, Everest’s chief executive officer.

“It remains a challenging environment but the strategic actions we have taken to position Everest for continued success are borne out by these results.”

During the quarter Everest repurchased 544,728 of its common shares at an average price of $184.37 and a total cost of $100.4 million. The company can buy back up to 3.1 million of its own shares under its existing share repurchase allocation.

Shareholders’ equity ended the quarter at $8 billion, up 5 per cent since the end of 2015. Book value per share increased 7 per cent since the end of 2015 to $190.66 at June 30.

Everest Re shares yesterday rose 18 cents to close at $181.44 before the company announced its results.