Bermuda-based White Mountains Insurance Group took a hit from exchange rates in the first quarter as the strong US dollar impacted its overseas earnings.

The group, which includes the OneBeacon insurance company, reinsurer the Sirius Group, and bond insurer BAM, posted net income of $84 million for the first three months of this year, down from $96 million in last year’s first quarter.

White Mountains chairman and chief executive officer Ray Barrette said: “It was a flat quarter. Foreign currency losses of $8 per share offset what was an otherwise decent quarter.

“Our investment portfolio returned about 1 per cent in local currencies, an OK performance in a quarter where interest rates fell again. OneBeacon grew book value per share by 2 per cent with a 95 per cent combined ratio, a solid result.

“Sirius Group posted another excellent quarter, with an 81 per cent combined ratio and a successful 1/1/15 renewal season. BAM insured $2.1 billion of municipal bonds in the quarter, a 58 per cent increase over the first quarter of last year. Our insurance services businesses continue to perform well, and we closed on the PassportCard deal in early April.”

White Mountains reported an adjusted book value of $664 at the end of March, flat for the quarter.

OneBeacon achieved a 95 per cent combined ratio and wrote $287 million in net written premiums for the first quarter, down 8 per cent from the same period in 2014. The company said the decrease reflected the exit from the lawyers liability business ($10 million), the termination of an affiliated reinsurance treaty ($7 million), and the implementation of an earlier cut-off date for recording spring crop premiums ($12 million).

OneBeacon CEO Mike Miller said: “Premium growth for our ongoing business remains healthy in the context of an increasingly competitive market.”

Sirius Group achieved a combined ratio of 81 per cent as gross premiums written fell 6 per cent to $423 million. The fall was “mainly due to foreign currency effects resulting from a strengthening US dollar”, the statement added.

BAM insured $2.1 billion of municipal bonds in the first quarter, up 58 per cent from the corresponding period in 2014.