Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited reported a $362 million loss for the third quarter of 2005 compared with a net loss of $43 million in the third quarter of 2004 due to the recent hurricanes.

The Bermuda-based company lost $208.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 including $453.7 million of losses from hurricanes Katrina and Rita versus the first nine months of 2004 when it reported income of $122.9 million.

Broken down, losses amounted to $5.22 per share for the three months ended September 30, 2005 and $3 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2005. This compares to the third quarter 2004 losses of 62 cents per share and nine-month income of $1.78 per share.

The operating loss for the 2005 quarter was $385.9 million compared with $61.7 million in the 2004 quarter. The company?s combined ratio for the third quarter of 2005 was 207.1 percent.

Chris O?Kane, chief executive officer, said that the results were ?clearly disappointing?. His company will revise its approach to underwriting property reinsurance to take full advantage of emerging opportunities.

Looking towards the January renewal season, the company expects dramatic increases in rates in loss impacted lines and significant improvements in policy wordings.

?Aspen is influential and has a leading position in areas such as offshore energy physical damage insurance and property catastrophe reinsurance which will see the most significant improvements. The company is well positioned to benefit from these changes in market conditions and our diversified business model will continue to serve us well,? he said.

Gross written premiums for the third quarter 2005 were $494 million versus $349 million a year earlier. Net investment income was $29.4 million for the third quarter 2005 compared with $19.4 million in the third quarter of 2004. Shareholders? equity decreased from $1.5 billion at December 31, 2004 to $1.2 billion at September 30, 2005. Subsequent to the end of the third quarter 2005, the company raised approximately $400 million through the sale of shares. Of that,$390 million was contributed to the capital of the Bermudian insurance subsidiary, Aspen Insurance Limited.