Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. posted a profit in the the third quarter as the quiet hurricane season and improved investment performance boosted the reinsurer?s bottom line.

Platinum said net income for the three months ending on September 30 was $84.9 million, or $1.28 per diluted common share, compared with a $176 million, or $4.02 a share, loss in the same period in 2005 when the reinsurance sector was hammered by a record hurricane season.

Platinum, one of the first companies to report in what is expected to be a strong earnings season, said net premiums earned in the quarter were of $339.6 million, a decrease of 20.9 percent from 2005 while net investment income was $48.3 million, an increase of 32.5 percent.

Platinum chief executive officer Michael D. Price said: ?Our strong underwriting performance in the third quarter benefited from the absence of severe catastrophes and favourable prior period development in our property reserves.

?Continued growth in investment income also contributed positively to our results.?

Mr. Price said the outlook for rates was mixed, with ?excellent opportunities in the US for catastrophe-exposed business and declining profitability in other areas?.

He said Platinum believed there is meaningful opportunity to underwrite a profitable and diverse portfolio of treaty reinsurance, ?although narrower than in recent years?.