$84.9-million profit for the year to December 31, a stunning 71.2 percent increase over the 1995 net income of $49.6 million. Return on average equity for 1996 was 22.2 percent.

Premiums written for the year shot up 12.1 percent to $136.2 million, due to the addition of new business and increased shares in existing programmes. CEO Paul Hasse and president Charles Kline said in a joint statement that while some business had been lost because of rate decreases, new business opportunities more than offset those losses.

Their statement said: "Nearly 60 percent of our premiums written are derived from customised reinsurance programmes. We continue to be offered new opportunities to solve catastrophe problems on a non-traditional basis. Based on new renewals and new business written at January 1, we expect to grow again in 1997.'' Shareholders' equity at December 31 had grown 24.2 percent to $423 million from a year before. Loss and loss adjustment expenses incurred over the year totaled $48 million, a significant portion of which was associated with structured (or finite) reinsurance programmes and IBNR.

Last month CAT announced its lead investment in Enterprise Reinsurance Ltd., a strategic risk financing and finite reinsurer based in Bermuda. Enterprise is a joint venture between CAT Ltd., Employers Reinsurance Corp., the Chubb Corp.

and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

CAT Ltd. is a privately held property catastrophe reinsurer, providing catastrophe reinsurance on a global basis through traditional and customised coverages, and capital markets products. Its owners include Morgan Stanley's merchant banking group, Chubb Corp., Chase Capital Partners, the pension funds of AT&T and General Motors, the Plymouth Rock Co., Chesney Ltd. and Zurich Insurance.