Bermuda reinsurers see increased profits

HAMILTON, Bermuda--Bermuda reinsurers are reporting higher net income in their financial results for the first nine months of the year.

In results released late Monday, Hamilton, Bermuda-based Everest Re Group Ltd. reported net income in the first nine months of 2006 of $634.5 million. That stood in contrast to the net loss of $56.5 million during the same period a year earlier.

Pembroke, Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. also reported its results late Monday, with net income of $506.6 million for the first nine months of this year. That compared with a $17.4 million net loss during the first three quarters of last year.

A third reinsurer--Hamilton-based Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd.--also reported higher income on Monday. Platinum's net income for the first nine months of this year reached $243.7 million, compared with a loss of just under $35 million for the same period a year earlier.