Maiden Holdings Ltd. boosted its profits by 23.6 percent during the third quarter of 2010 as the company seeks to diversify with the acquisition of auto insurer GMAC International Insurance Services Ltd. by the end of this month.

The Bermuda-based insurer reported net income of $18.5 million or 26 cents per share for the quarter compared to $15 million or 21 cents per share for the same period in 2009.

Its net income for the first nine months of 2010 also rose 14.4 percent to $50.7 million or 72 cents per share.

Operating earnings were $18.1 million or 26 cents per share in the third quarter, up 9.7 percent from $16.5 million or 23 cents per share last year.

Book value, meanwhile, climbed 9.4 percent to $10.52 per share since year-end 2009.

"Our third quarter results reflect continued solid growth in earnings and book value despite an increasingly competitive underwriting environment," said Art Raschbaum, president and CEO of Maiden Holdings.

"Maiden continues to benefit from growth tied to our strategic relationships as we maintain our value-added long-term relationship focus and disciplined approach to underwriting. We also remain firmly committed to preserving our high-quality balance sheet even in the face of the challenging investment environment."

He added: "We look forward to the additional diversification and benefits provided by the pending GMAC International Insurance Services transaction which should help drive continued growth in assets, revenue, and earnings. The combination of our disciplined approach and lower-volatility business model give us confidence in our ability to continue to deliver long-term value for our shareholders."

Maiden's net earned premium increased 30.4 percent from the third quarter of 2009 to $309.6 million, while net investment income was up 4.3 percent at $17.5 million over the same period.

The company's combined ratio remained little changed at 97 percent versus 96.3 percent in Q3 2009.

Shareholders' equity rose 12.1 percent from year-end 2009 to $758.4 million.

Net written premium totalled $273.4 million compared with $221.4 million in last year's third quarter.

The company also recorded total assets of $2.8 billion, which increased 7.6 percent from $2.6 billion at year end 2009.