Everest Re Group Ltd last reported fourth-quarter net income of $373.6 million and comfortably surpassed analysts’ expectations.

On a per-share basis, the Bermudian reinsurer said it had profit of $9.08. Earnings, adjusted for investment gains, came to $8.83 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.98 per share.

The firm posted revenue of $1.61 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $1.57 billion.

For the year, the company reported profit of $996.3 million, or $23.68 per share. Revenue was reported as $5.78 billion.

The company’s gross premiums written rose 3 per cent to $1.5 billion for the quarter and by 2 per cent to $6 billion for the year.

Dominic Addesso, Everest’s chief executive officer, said: “Everest had another record quarter and an outstanding year, generating 13 per cent return on equity and strong growth in book value per share, despite what continues to be a very challenging market. Our reinsurance book remains quite strong with a 77.6 per cent combined ratio, which is remarkable when considering the string of global natural catastrophe events for the year. While our insurance operations’ results were mostly impacted by charges on discontinued books of business, the underlying fundamentals of this book continue to improve.

“We are confident in the future and expect Everest to continue to generate above average returns for its shareholders.”

Everest Re shares have climbed roughly 3 per cent since the beginning of the year. During regular-hours trading in New York, shares hit $222.10, an increase of 22 per cent in the last 12 months.