Athene Holding Ltd made a profit of $708 million, or $3.64 per diluted share, in the first quarter, a big increase on the $277 million, or $1.40 per share, it reported a year ago.

The improvement was said to have been driven by favourable changes in the fair value of reinsurance assets related to a decrease in treasury rates.

However, Athene’s adjusted operating income of $287 million, or $1.50 per share, missed the $1.72 per share consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance.

The adjusted operating income was up from $249 million, or $1.23 per share, for the same period in 2018.

The Bermudian-based company has also announced the formation of Athene Co-Invest Reinsurance Affiliate, which it expects to provide Athene with up to $4 billion of on-demand, third-party equity capital.

Jim Belardi, chief executive officer, said: “Our business continues to drive 17 per cent compound annual growth in adjusted book value per share

“We are extraordinarily well positioned with a multichannel distribution platform that provides sustainable and opportunistic growth with very attractive profitability. Given the growing number of opportunities we see to drive long term value creation, we are excited to announce the formation of a strategic, on-demand capital vehicle that will allow us to achieve a variety of business objectives simultaneously, and in a shareholder friendly manner.”

Mr Belardi noted that Fitch last month upgraded the financial strength ratings of Athene’s operating companies to ‘A’.

He said: “We are now positioned with ‘A’ ratings from all agencies who cover us, and we look forward to additional ratings upgrades over time. Our increasing presence in the marketplace as an A-rated company will enable us to establish new partnerships and further our position as a financial solutions provider to a broader market.”

Athene’s book value per share was $47.30 at the end of March, an improvement of 4 per cent quarter-over-quarter and 17 per cent year-on-year.

Its deposits generated for the quarter were $4.8 billion, an improvement of 131 per cent, year-on-year. Retail deposits for the quarter were $1.8 billion, up 41 per cent on the same period a year ago.

Athene’s board has increased share repurchase authorisation to $350 million.