Insurer and reinsurer Endurance yesterday reported net income of $68 million for the third quarter as it wrote more business.

That is equal to $1.52 per diluted share — a drop on the same period in 2013, which showed net income of $75.2 million and $1.70 per share.

The latest results takes the firm’s figures for the year to the end of September to net income of $239.5 million and $5.36 per share. The figures for same nine months last year were net income of $220.2 million and $5.04 per share.

Endurance chairman and CEO John Charman said: “During the third quarter, we continued to make strong progress in the transformation of Endurance.

“Despite the significant and increasing competition throughout the global insurance and reinsurance industry that we had anticipated, we have meaningfully improved the underwriting quality across our lines of business.”

He added: “The core of our underwriting talent is now largely in place and our market-leading teams of underwriters are successfully growing attractive, sustainable new speciality business for Endurance based on their relevance and their value to their long-standing client and distribution partner relationships.”

Gross premiums written totalled more than $626 million for the third quarter — an increase of 15 percent over the same period last year.

Net premiums amounted to just over $390 million, a drop of 1.3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2013.

Mr Charman said: “The risk/reward characteristics of our underwriting portfolios have been substantially improved with reduced catastrophe exposures, a more divers and better balanced underwriting portfolio backstopped by a very strong reinsurance protection across our businesses.

“Despite the quarter’s headwinds from hailstorm losses within our otherwise profitable agriculture insurance business coupled with some volatility within our investment portfolio, I am very comfortable with the underlying performance improvements and direction of Endurance, especially when taking into account the earnings lag that naturally occurs following a major transformation.”

In the insurance arm, the quarter saw gross premiums of $420.3 million, up $75.5 million (21.9 percent) on the same period in 2013.

Net premiums written totalled $197.6 million, a decrease of 11.9 percent from the third quarter of 2013.

A total of $205.8 million was written for the quarter in gross premiums in the reinsurance segment, up 3.1 percent on the same period last year.

Net premiums for the period amounted to $192.5 million, up 12.6 percent on the third quarter of 2013.