Bermuda insurer American Safety Insurance Holdings, Ltd. last night reported net earnings of $5 million for the third quarter, as underwriting revenue soared.

The company said that gross premiums written climbed 24.3 percent to $92.6 million in the July through September period.

The profit broke down to 47 cents per share, compared to a loss of $4.3 million, or 42 cents per share, for the same period of 2008.

American Safety said its combined ratio - the percentage of premium dollars spent on claims and expenses - improved to 100.2 percent from 103.2 percent for last year's third quarter. Annualised return on average equity increased to 8.4 percent from -7.4 percent for the same period of 2008.

Book value increased to $25.97 per share compared to $21.12 per share at December 31, 2008. The earnings included a $1.6 million increase in other underwriting expenses resulting from the write-off of a reinsurance recoverable related to a legacy programme.

Gross premiums written for the quarter increased by $18.1 million primarily due to a specialty programme written in the third quarter for which the company said it assumed no underwriting risk and received fee income. American Safety president and chief executive officer Stephen Crim said: "We have been able to generate improved underwriting results in this extremely competitive market. We will continue to use our diversified platform to opportunistically grow as market conditions permit."