Bermuda-based Everest Re bucked the trend of many reinsurers when it said net income jumped 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.Everest posted a profit of $302.5 million, or $5.51 a share, up from $197.2 million, or $3.28 a share, a year earlier.On an operating basis, which excludes items such as investment gains and losses, earnings rose to $4.70 from $3.19. Analysts had expected operating earnings of $2.97.Everest Re chairman and chief executive officer Joseph Taranto said: “Despite a challenging marketplace and a significant number of global catastrophe events in the year, we achieved an operating return on equity of nine percent and grew book value per share by 12 percent in 2009.”Revenue rose 6.5 percent to $1.26 billion, while premiums earned fell 0.9% to $1.02 billion.Net investment income jumped 26 percent to $184.8 million.The combined ratio, or the portion of premiums spent on claims and expenses, rose to 98.7 percent from 91.2 percent.The rise in income reversed a decline in profit in recent quarters, but was not enough to offset a decline in net income for the full year.For the year, Everest had net income of $610.7 million or $10.7 a share compared to $807 million or $13.22 a share in 2009.Premiums earned edged up to $3.93 billion compared to $3.89 billion, but losses and loss expenses jumped from $2.37 billion to $2.94 billion.