Catlin Group has reported a record net income of $147.3m for the six months of 2006, compared to $111.2m in the same period of 2005.
In early trading, shares in Catlin, a favourite of many city analysts, surged over 4.5% to 495p.
The international property and casualty insurer said gross premiums written increased over 15% to $903.1m (H1 2005: $781.7m).
However the combined ratio dipped marginally to 84.7% from 82.3% in the first half of 2005.
Despite a mild storm season so far in 2006, Catlin reassured the market that it was "in an even stronger position to withstand the impact of severe hurricane events than we were a year ago."
Stephen Catlin, chief executive, said: "We had record premium volume and net income, while at the same time we have reduced our exposure to natural catastrophe risk by approximately one-third compared with a year ago and continued to diversify our risk portfolio.
He added: "We have also made great strides in building our business for the future. We have established strong management in our recently established US operating platform, and we have also opened a number of offices in North America and Asia. We are encouraged by the opportunities that this expansion creates."
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
