last week said second quarter net income rose 1.6 percent to $108.7 million, as the Bermuda company increased its sales of insurance and reinsurance policies, including higher-than-expected demand in Florida for property-catastrophe policies after this region was ravaged by a surge in hurricane activity last year.

President and chief executive Anthony Taylor said with the exception of the pricing for property-catastrophe coverage sought by Florida policyholders, insurance and reinsurance rates were declining.

While Montpelier saw more business than it anticipated in the quarter, Mr. Taylor said the company continued, as market conditions came under competitive pressure, to turn down business that was not priced high enough to meet profit targets.

?We have written a limited number of attractive new opportunities and, overall, premium was higher than expected,? Mr. Taylor said of the company?s $231.6 million in net policy sales, a 27 percent rise from sales during the same period a year ago.

The company earned $227.1 million from policy sales, 17 percent more than the $182.2 million earned during the second quarter, 2004.

Because Montpelier anticipates lower sales in the more competitive environment, it returned approximately $390 million in capital to shareholders through a special dividend payment in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Montpelier Re has invested $10 million in a new Cayman Island-based reinsurer, Rockridge Reinsurance Ltd.

Montpelier, in its earnings statement, said the new reinsurer was established to provide reinsurance for high-layer, short-tail risks for Montpelier?s reinsurance unit, Montpelier Reinsurance Ltd.

Montpelier chief financial officer Kip Oberting did not rule out Rockridge eventually offering reinsurance to third parties but said its initial business plan was to have Montpelier Re as its sole client.

Montpelier Re will be able to free up its capacity to write more business through the arrangement with Rockridge, as well as be able to earn fees on the business, the company said.

Hedge fund manager West End Capital Management (Bermuda) Ltd. will manage Rockridge?s investment portfolio with a fixed income arbitrage approach, the company said. Rockridge was founded on June 1, with $91 million in capital, Mr. Oberting said.

Montpelier?s partner in Rockridge, West End, is run by Mark Byrne, son of former Montpelier chairman, John ?Jack? Byrne.

? Net income: $108.7 million, or $1.62* a share, a 1.6 percent increase from the $107 million, or $1.57* a share, in net income during the same period a year ago

? Net premiums written: $231.6 million, a 27 percent increase from the $182.2 million in policies sold during the same period a year ago.

? Net investment income:$19.1 million, a 17 percent improvement from the $16.3 million investment return in the second quarter, 2004

? Combined ratio: 64.6 percent**, a deterioration from 51 percent in the year-ago period.

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said on Monday that second quarter income more than tripled as sales for the Bermuda insurer rose nearly 12 percent, according to a company statement.

Quanta?s net income of $8.5 million, or $0.15 a share, compared to $1.8 million, or $0.03 a share, in profit during the second quarter, 2004. The company beat analyst expectations of $0.12 a share in earnings, according to a poll of three analysts that follow Quanta.

Net policy sales rose 11.7 percent to $127.4 million during the second quarter, which chief executive Tobey J. Russ said reflected Quanta?s ?continued development and penetration? of its specialty insurance business, or 65 percent of the company?s total net sales.

? Net income: Quanta?s net income of $8.5 million, or $0.15* a share, compared to $1.8 million, or $0.03* a share, in net income during the second quarter, 2004.

? Operating income: Operating profit, which excludes net realised gains or losses, was $7.7 million, or $0.13 a share, compared with $2.6 million during the period, or $0.05 per share.

? Net investment income: $6.2 million, an 88 percent increased from the $3.3 million in net investment income during the same period, a year ago.

? Gross premiums written: $168.5 million, 24.8 percent growth compared to $135 million in gross policy sales during the same period a year ago

? Net premiums written: $127.4 million compared to $114.1 million during the second quarter, 2004

? Combined ratio**: 95.3 percent, a deterioration from the 90.7 percent combined ratio in the second quarter, last year.

? Shareholders? equity: $437.2 million at the end of the second quarter compared to $430.9 million in shareholders? equity at the end of 2004

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EPS* data is on a diluted basis.

* *The combined ratio is a measure of underwriting profitability calculated by adding the loss and loss expense ratio together with a company?s expense ratio. The lower the number (under 100 percent), the more profitable the company?s underwriting of re/insurance policies has been.