Gross premiums written increased by 34.3 per cent year on year to $1.3 billion, Bermudian-based Lancashire Holdings Limited reported as it released its trading statement for the nine months ended September 30.

Lancashire reported a group renewal price index of 107 per cent.

The net loss estimates from Hurricane Ian, which hit the west coast of Florida on September 28, are in the range of $160 to $190 million, the company said, adding that this is within its expectations for an event of this type.

Lancashire reported a total net investment return of negative five per cent, primarily driven by unrealised losses.

Alex Maloney, group chief executive officer, said: “During 2022, Lancashire has continued to grow and diversify its underwriting portfolio and deliver on its underwriting strategy. This has been fuelled by solid rate increases and strong market conditions, which has given us additional resilience.”

He added: “We expect the broader positive conditions to continue into 2023 and our strategy is to take advantage of attractive market opportunities. We believe we could see significant increases in rates and improving terms and conditions due to recent events and the fact that capacity had already been tightened in the wider market.

“Clearly the macroeconomic outlook is increasingly uncertain with significant increases in interest rates, higher inflation, and broader dislocation in global markets and we expect this volatility to continue.

“Lancashire reported a total net investment return of negative five per cent, primarily driven by unrealised losses. Future earnings in our portfolio should be bolstered by the higher interest rate environment, which we should benefit from relatively quickly given the short duration of our portfolio.

“We believe we are well-placed to manage inflationary pressures and have competence in dealing with previous inflationary and deflationary changes within a number of our product lines. Inflation will also present further opportunities for us as clients seek to purchase additional cover.

“Even allowing for the impact of Hurricane Ian and unrealised investment losses, our capital position remains strong and we will drive forward with our growth strategy and capitalise on the strong rate environment through our diversified product portfolio.”