GREENWICH, Conn.—W.R. Berkley Corp. reported $309 million in net income for 2009, a nearly 10% increase compared with 2008.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based insurance holding company said it had gross written premiums of $4.25 billion in 2009 compared with $4.52 billion in 2008. W.R. Berkley’s combined ratio was up slightly to 94.2% in 2009, compared with 93.1% a year earlier.

For the fourth quarter of 2009, W.R. Berkley reported net income of $134.2 million, up from $40.3 million from the fourth quarter in 2008. The company also said Monday that it had repurchased 4.6 million shares of common stock for $112 million during last year’s fourth quarter.

Weather-related losses were $4 million and $6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 and 2008, respectively, and $63 million and $114 million for the full year 2009 and 2008, respectively.