Insurer BF&M today announced $17.5 million in shareholders’ net income for the first six months of the year.

The figure is up more than $7 million on the same period last year and represents an annualised return on shareholders’ equity of 14.5 percent.

Equity attributable to shareholders at June 30 2014 was $242.4 million, while general fund assets stood at $1.2 billion, of which $97.3 million was held in cash and cash equivalents.

The company will also next month pay out the previously-announced increase of ten percent in the quarterly dividend to shareholders.

BF&M president and CEO John Wight said: “Financial results for the first six months of 2014 were good.”

But he said the 2014 half year results reflected “certain anomalies” like one-time gains and the timing of some revenues “that will not repeat in the second half”.

He added: “In addition, life insurance business is inherently subject to the movement in interest rates, which moved in the company’s favour in the first half of the year. This may not be the case in the future.”

But he said the firm had a strong equity base — important to policy holders — to provide for claims in advance of the current hurricane season or for life insurance claims decades into the future.

Mr Wight added that the firm’s strategy to position itself as a major Caribbean regional direct insurer allowed BF&M to diversify and reduce its overall risk.

He said: “A growing percentage of the company’s profits now are derived from businesses operating outside of Bermuda.”

Mr Wight added that around half the firm’s profits came from general insurance and half from lines like life and health insurance, retirement income and investment advisory services and real estate.

Gross premiums for the first six months of the year totalled $184.7 million — up 0.3 percent on the same period in 2013.

The company had announced in June that its board intended to raise the quarterly dividend from 20 cents per share to 22 cents per share.

“This 22c dividend per share will be paid for the October 15 dividend payment,” Mr Wight said.

“This will be welcome news for the 1,300 Bermudian shareholders of BF&M, many of whom depend upon dividends to supplement their incomes or provide for their pensions.”