Validus Group’s first-quarter profit was $166.8 million, a fall of 3.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.

However, year-on-year there was no change in the $1.98 net earnings per common share available to Validus. The group bought back 1.4 million of its shares during the first three months of the year.

Underwriting income across the group’s various segments fell from $142.1 million to $122.7 million. Validus Re was the star performer with income rising from $76.1 million to $98.3 million, but things were not so rosy for its Lloyd’s insurance platform Talbot, where income dropped $36 million to $20.3 million.

Meanwhile Validus Group’s US-based insurer Western World recorded a loss of $4.7 million, compared to underwriting income of $2.2 million a year ago.

The group’s gross premiums written for the period were $1.172 billion, up from $1.119 billion.

Ed Noonan, Validus’s chief executive officer, said: “I’m very pleased to report Validus’s strong results for the quarter which were driven by excellent underwriting and investment results.

“Despite competitive conditions in the insurance and reinsurance markets combined with capital markets volatility, Validus generated an 18.1 per cent annualised return on average equity. We continue to build upon existing strengths in our Bermuda and London platforms while positioning our US operations for long-term success.”

Validus has a market capitalisation of $3.77 billion. Its shares closed at $44.35 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, down 55 cents, or 1.22 per cent.