PartnerRe Ltd last night reported a second-quarter profit of more than a quarter of a billion dollars — a dramatic improvement from the $190 million net loss it posted in the corresponding period last year.

The Bermuda-based global reinsurer said net income totalled $257.7 million, or $5.02 per share. Of that, realised and unrealised gains on investments were $123.7 million, or $2.41 per share, compared to a loss on investments of $230 million in the second quarter of 2013.

Operating earnings were $133.5 million, or $2.60 per share, in line with the $2.62 consensus forecast of analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance. This compares to operating earnings of $51.1 million, or $0.90 per share, for the second quarter of 2013.

Net income for the first six months of 2014 was $553.3 million, or $10.64 per share, up from $20.2 million, or 34 cents per share in 2013.

PartnerRe chief executive officer Costas Miranthis said: “We had a good second quarter, on the back of the strong results we posted in the first quarter.

“Our seasonal earnings pattern for catastrophe premium resulted in lower cat premiums earned during the second quarter. In addition, we experienced a higher than average number of mid-sized individual non-catastrophe losses, an area where we expect some quarterly volatility.

“We are pleased however that the underlying loss ratio on attritional losses continues to be healthy. We also had very strong investment performance during the quarter. All together, this culminated in us growing our dividend-adjusted tangible book value per share by 10.8 percent for the first six months of 2014.”

Net premiums written of $1.4 billion were up eight percent compared to last year. The company said the increase was driven by the Life and Health segment and the North America and Global Specialty Non-life sub-segments.

The non-life combined ratio was 91.5 percent for the quarter and benefited from favourable prior-year development of 15.4 points (or $161 million).

Mr Miranthis added, “Market conditions remain very competitive and excess reinsurance capacity is putting pressure on premium rates as well as on terms and conditions. While this is a difficult market, I am confident that our experienced teams coupled with the strength of our franchise will enable us to tackle the challenges ahead.”

PartnerRe spent around $133 million buying back its own shares during the three months at an average price of $105.12 per share.

Total shareholders’ equity was $6.9 billion at June 30, up three percent from the end of 2013.