AXIS Capital Holdings Limited stated today that reported net income available to common shareholders for the second quarter of 2013 was $72 million, or $0.62 per diluted common share, compared with $168 million, or $1.35 per diluted common share, for the second quarter of 2012.A press release stated for the six months ended June 30, 2013, their reported net income available to common shareholders of $375 million, or $3.19 per diluted common share, compared with $290 million, or $2.31 per diluted common share, for the corresponding period of 2012.Operating income for the second quarter of 2013 was $50 million, or $0.43 per diluted common share, compared with $113 million, or $0.90 per diluted common share, for the second quarter of 2012.For the six months ended June 30, 2013, AXIS Capital reported operating income of $278 million, or $2.36 per diluted common share, compared with $249 million, or $1.98 per diluted common share, for the first six months of 2012.They also stated in their release that second quarter highlights include gross premiums written increased 20 percent to $1.2 billion, with growth of 29 percent in their reinsurance segment and 16 percent in their insurance segment; net premiums written increased 24 percent to $993 million; net premiums earned increased 11 percent to $946 million and a combined ratio of 101.7 percent compared to 92.3.Commenting on the second quarter 2013 financial results, Albert Benchimol, President and CEO of AXIS Capital was quoted as saying: "For the year-to-date, we have delivered a very healthy annualised operating ROACE of 10.9 percent. This year-to-date result is indicative of the ability of our portfolio to absorb volatility including that presented by a quarter like this one, which was marked by a very high frequency of unrelated small and mid-sized cat and weather events around the globe.”Mr Benchimol continued: "We continue to make good progress in expanding our franchise with growth in attractive lines and markets, most notably in agriculture, accident and health, and our international operations, as we build a broader, more diversified portfolio.“Our results still do not reflect the full leverage of all of the various strategic initiatives in progress at AXIS. These initiatives, combined with market conditions that present good opportunities in long-standing specialty lines at AXIS, position us well to continue to drive shareholder value."