LONDON (Bloomberg) - Lancashire Holdings Ltd., the property insurer that first sold shares in London in 2005, posted a third-quarter profit as gross written premiums rose.

Lancashire posted net income for the three months ended September 30 of $108.7 million compared with a loss of $119.4 million in the same period a year earlier, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based insurer said today in a Regulatory News Service statement. Lancashire said it had insurance losses of $14.9 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $260.4 million a year earlier.

"Lancashire saw good overall premium growth in the quarter compared to the previous year, largely driven by the expansion of our property catastrophe portfolio," CEO Richard Brindle said in the statement.

Last year's Hurricanes Ike and Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico were the most costly for the insurance industry since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

The insurer announced a special dividend of $1.25 per common share.