Bermuda-based Catlin Group wrote more business in the first nine months of this year, as gross premiums written climbed 11 percent.

However, the company saw pricing fall 2.9 percent across its whole portfolio during the first three quarters, driven by a 6.9 percent decrease for catastrophe-related business.

Growth was flat in the global insurer and reinsurer’s Bermuda operation, based in Hamilton’s Washington Mall building, which wrote $537 million of gross premium in the first nine months, down $4 million from the same period in 2013.

Growth was strongest in the company’s International hub, which grew 17 percent through Catlin’s operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Canada. London was the biggest growth driver in dollar terms, generating $2.23 billion in gross premiums — up 11 percent from last year. And the US segment also saw ten percent growth.

In total, the group wrote $4.89 billion of gross premium in the January through September period, compared to $4.42 billion last year.

By line of business, Catlin saw strongest premium growth in property (up 19 percent), while casualty, energy/marine, reinsurance and specialty/war and political risk also registered growth.

The group incurred claims from two catastrophe events during the third quarter: Hurricane Odile, which struck the Baja California peninsula of Mexico in September, and the flooding in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India in September.

Catlin added that three large single-risk losses were sustained during the quarter: the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in July, the aircraft losses caused by fighting at the Tripoli airport in July and a fire at a US sawmill in July.

Catlin also cited one catastrophe event so far in the fourth quarter: Cyclone Hudhud, which caused damage to eastern India and Nepal in October.

Catlin CEO Stephen Catlin said premium growth was going according to plan.

And despite the losses cited in the report, Catlin CEO Stephen Catlin said “aggregate catastrophe and large single-risk losses are still below expectations for the nine-month period”.

“Rating levels are still adequate for most classes of business, and rates across our entire portfolio decreased by 2.9 percent during the nine-month period,” Mr Catlin added.

“We still firmly believe that our highly diversified portfolio — both by underwriting hub and by class of business — provides Catlin with significant advantages during a period of decreasing rates in wholesale markets.

“Catlin has built an underwriting infrastructure capable of producing solid results over the long term across all types of market conditions. We continue to look ahead with confidence.”