Bermudian-based mortgage re/insurer Essent Group Ltd reported net income of $127.7 million for the first quarter, up from $111.1 million a year earlier.

Earnings broke down to $1.30 per share, topping the $1.25 consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance.

As of March 31, Essent had insurance in force of $143.2 billion and consolidated stockholders’ equity of $2.5 billion, the company stated.

“We were pleased with our strong financial results for the first quarter as our operating environment remains favourable and credit continues to perform well,” said Mark Casale, Essent’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Also, we continue to make solid progress in strengthening our franchise as we successfully rolled out our risk-based pricing engine EssentEdge.

“Our outlook on our business and housing remains positive and we continue to believe that we are well positioned to continue growing our company.”

New insurance written for the first quarter was $11 billion, compared to $11.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018 and $9.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

Net premiums earned for the first quarter were $177.8 million, compared to $152.6 million in the first quarter of 2018.

The expense ratio for the first quarter was 23.1 per cent, compared to 22.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 25 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.

The provision for losses and loss-adjusted expenses for the first quarter was $7.1 million, compared to a provision of $5.3 million in the first quarter of 2018.

The provision in the fourth quarter of 2018 included a $9.9 million release of the $11.1 million reserve associated with loans identified as related to hurricanes Harvey and Irma that was established in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The percentage of loans in default as of March 31, 2019 was 0.65 per cent, compared to 0.86 per cent as of March 31, 2018.

The combined ratio for the first quarter was 27.1 per cent, compared to 28.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.

The consolidated balance of cash and investments at March 31, 2019 was $3.0 billion, including cash and investment balances at Essent Group Ltd. of $73.8 million.

In February, Essent said it obtained $473.2 million of excess of loss reinsurance coverage on mortgage insurance policies written by Essent in 2018. The reinsurance is fully collateralised by ten-year mortgage insurance-linked notes issued by Radnor Re 2019-1 Ltd, an unaffiliated special purpose insurer.