PARIS (Bloomberg) ? Scor SA, the largest French reinsurer, said nine-month profit almost doubled on property and casualty reinsurance sales and growth in Asia and Europe.

Net income increased 87 percent to 155 million euros ($198 million) from 83 million euros a year earlier, Paris-based Scor said yesterday. Gross written premiums climbed 18 percent to 2.09 billion euros.

?The group?s business has grown significantly since the beginning of the year,? chief executive Denis Kessler said in a statement. Scor ?is confidently preparing the end of year renewals?.

Scor, which agreed to buy German rival Revios Ruckversicherung AG in July for 605 million euros, plans to complete the integration later this month, Kessler said in a conference call.

The reinsurer, which doesn?t give full-year targets, said the acquisition will add to full-year earnings.

Kessler said with the ?ongoing consolidation? in the industry that Scor likewise was consolidating and would ?expand by acquisitions?, without giving more details.

He said without elaborating that Scor was looking at ?quite a few opportunities?.

Kessler has trimmed costs and focused on more profitable lines such as life reinsurance. The company, which helps insurers such as Axa SA spread the risk they assume for clients, lost business after ratings cuts in 2003.

Its shares have risen 15 percent this year.

?We reduced risks? from exposure to natural catastrophes, Kessler explained. ?To protect the group,? he said Scor had opted for a more traditional portfolio of products.

Scor emphasised life reinsurance, which expanded 12 percent in Europe and 16 percent in Asia.

The two regions? growth compensates for ?the contraction of six percent in the US,? Kessler said.

The group signed new life reinsurance contracts since June in Spain and France, increasing its market share, and non-life reinsurance added 28 percent with growth in all regions, Scor said.

Kessler also said the group was facing the ?burden? of high taxation, having paid as much as 87 million euros in taxes for the first nine months, more than any of its competitors.