Validus Holdings Ltd’s profits dropped by more than three quarters for the third quarter of 2011 after taking a $51.9 million hit from Hurricane Irene and floods in Denmark.The company’s net income plummeted 76.3 percent, or $182 million, to $56.5 million, or 54 cents per share, compared to $238.5 million or $2.08 per share for the same period in 2010.It also posted a net loss of $6 million or 12 cents per share during the opening nine months of the year versus net income of $299.9 million or $2.42 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2010.Net operating income for the quarter also fell 34.9 percent, or $60.4 million, to $112.6 million, or $1.09 per share from $173 million, or $1.51 per share, from a year earlier, and net operating income for the first nine months of 2011 was $29 million, or 23 cents per share compared to $166.4 million or $1.34 per share for the same period in 2010.Ed Noonan, chairman and CEO of Validus, said: “Validus continues to deliver strong financial results, with annualised net operating return on average equity in the third quarter of 2011 of 13.1 percent.“Each of our operating segments produced robust underwriting profits, with Validus Re recording a 68 percent segment combined ratio and Talbot recording an 83.3 percent segment combined ratio. We close the quarter with our balance sheet in excellent position to provide significant capacity to our clients as we look forward to the upcoming January 1 reinsurance renewal season.”The company, which includes Validus Re and Talbot, incurred net losses of $32.5 million and $19.4 million from Hurricane Irene and the Danish floods respectively.That compared to a total loss of $47.7 million in the third quarter of 2010 from events including the New Zealand earthquake.Gross premiums written for the third quarter, however, were up 13.7 percent or $47.1 million at $391.1 million versus $344 million for the three months ended September 30, 2010.Underwriting income for the three months ended September 30, 2011 was $111.8 million, down from the $150.2 million recorded a year previous, representing a decrease of 25.5 percent or $38.4 million.Validus Re’s combined ratio rose from 65.2 percent to 75.6 percent, which included $61.1 million of favourable prior accident year loss reserve development, benefiting its loss ratio by 13.3 percentage points over the same period.The re/insurer’s annualised return on average equity was 6.6 percent and its annualised net operating return on average equity was 13.1 percent.For the year to date gross premiums written for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 were $1.9 billion compared to $1.7 billion for the corresponding period in 2010 an increase of 6.6 percent or $114.6 million.The company also posted an underwriting loss 0f $1 million for the first nine months on the year versus an underwriting income of $102.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 down 101 percent or $103.8 million.