Everest Re Group Ltd made a profit of $348.9 million, or $8.54 per diluted share, for the first quarter. That was up from $210.3 million, or $5.11 per share, a year ago.

After-tax operating income was $282.4 million, or $6.91 per share, compared to $219.7 million, or $5.34 per share, for the same period last year. This beat the $5.91 per share estimated consensus of analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance.

Dominic Addesso, chief executive officer, said: “During the first quarter of 2019 Everest produced very strong financial results while continuing to expand our market profile with growth in both our reinsurance and insurance businesses.

“The company delivered $8.54 of net income per diluted common share, equal to a 17 per cent annualised return on equity, driven by both solid underwriting and investment returns.

“Our underwriting operations are strategically balanced between reinsurance and insurance, allowing us to quickly respond to market conditions across virtually all classes of business and territories in building the optimal portfolio of risks.”

Gross written premiums were $2.1 billion, up 10 per cent, while worldwide reinsurance premiums were $1.5 billion, an improvement of 7 per cent.

The company’s combined ratio improved from 93.3 per cent to 88.7 per cent, year-on-year.

Catastrophe losses were $25 million, related to the damaging rain and floods in Townsville, Australia.

Net investment income was $141 million for the quarter, an improvement of 1.9 per cent. Book value per share rose from $194.43 at the beginning of the year, to $206.68 at the end of March.