Insurer Argus Group Holdings Ltd posted an annual profit of $16 million — despite taking a hit from hurricanes Fay and Gonzalo.

The earnings for the year through the end of March 2015, which broke down to 76 cents per share, were up from $13.3 million in the previous year.

Return on equity was 14.3 per cent, up from 13.2 per cent the previous year, while the company saw an increase in business, with net premiums rising by 11 per cent.

Shareholders’ equity grew by $12.2 million over the 12-month period to $118.3 million.

Net premiums written increased by $13.4 million, arising from a combination of new business and high client retention levels, Argus said today. Net benefits and claims increased by $5.3 million, due primarily to hurricane-related claims. Reinsurance arrangements helped to reduce the impact of the storm claims, the company added.

Operating expenses increased by $5.2 million, driven by one-off investments as Argus built out “a global world-class infrastructure to support strategic initiatives and growth for the future”.

Argus added that the results included a $9 million writedown of the carrying value of some intangible assets.

The Argus board declared an interim dividend of eight cents per share, payable on July 24 for shareholders of record on July 10.

Argus Group chief executive officer Alison Hill said: “Last year was another year of strong and steady growth for the Argus Group. This solid result, which was negatively impacted by Hurricanes Fay and Gonzalo, reflects the benefits of the geographic and product diversification within the Group.”

Investment income increased by $7.9 million when compared to the prior year aided by further declines in global interest rates, which resulted in unrealised gains in the fixed-income portfolios being reported for the year.

“The Group’s disciplined asset liability matching policy means that these unrealised investment gains are partially offset by the effect of changes to interest rate assumptions used to determine the annuity reserves,” Argus stated.