Bermuda-based re/insurer Hiscox saw rates in catastrophe lines improve during the first quarter, as the company’s gross premiums written for the quarter remained broadly flat for the first three months of the year.In its interim management statement, published yesterday, Hiscox added that it had seen a doubling of budgeted premiums in its Japanese earthquake book during April renewals, with rates surging after last year’s Tohoku quake and tsunami.Hiscox said rates in non-catastrophe product lines were “either broadly stable or improving gently”. The exception was commercial lines in UK and Europe, which remain under pressure.Hiscox’s gross premiums written were £450.7 million in the first quarter compared to £453.5 million in the same period last year. The group said it withheld some reinsurance capacity in the first quarter anticipating better rates and terms later in the year.The company’s Bermuda reinsurance platform saw gross premiums slump 15.7 percent to $117.2 million, compared to $139 million in the same period last year.“This decrease is mainly due to the non-renewal of a pro rata treaty on a large US account as profit margins did not warrant the risk,” Hiscox explained. “Following the April renewal season Hiscox Bermuda’s premium income is growing year on year.”Hiscox also saw premiums slip by about one percent on the London market, its largest operation, where it wrote £180.7 million of business.Meanwhile, Hiscox UK saw a 3.4 percent increase in business to £89.1 million, thanks to strong growth in specialty commercial lines and good retention in the art and private client business.“The business plans to launch a TV advertising campaign in Q2 and Q3 building on an already strong Hiscox brand in the UK,” the company added.Hiscox USA was the strongest growing unit, seeing premium income grow by 21.6 percent to $47.8 million from $39.3 million in the same period last year. Management liability, construction, and terrorism lines provided the bulk of the growth.Investment yielded 1.3 percent on a non-annualised basis during the first quarter. The company attributed the result to a strong quarter for risk assets and a narrowing of corporate spreads in our bond portfolios as a degree of confidence returned to investment markets. Invested assets totalled approximately £2.9 billion at the end of March.Hiscox CEO Bronek Masojada said: “The year has started well with good growth in retail lines, a strong investment return and the reinsurance renewals in April beating our expectations.”