PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' offshore sector countered the global downturn with a 25 percent gain in pre-tax profits during the 2008/09 financial year, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said yesterday.

The remote Indian Ocean island is keen to develop itself as a leading financial hub and pitches itself as a platform bridging Africa, the Indian sub-continent and Asia.

"The reported profit before tax ... recorded a 25.2 percent increase over the previous year, to reach $48 million", the FSC said in a statement.

Consistently one of Africa's strongest performing economies, Mauritius has diversified away from sugar and textiles into tourism, ICT, business outsourcing and offshore banking.

FSC data showed revenues increased by 30.1 percent to $118.12 million compared with the previous year.

Mauritius' offshore business sector saw a fall of more than 50 percent in new activity during the first five months of 2009 as competition for dwindling business toughened during the global financial crisis.

The palm-fringed island offers two global business licences that cover a range of activities from financial services to fund management, insurance, pensions, aviation leasing and shipping.

The FSC also said the domestic insurance sector continued to expand during the last financial year, partly thanks to the introduction of sharia law-compliant insurance products.

"Total assets of insurance companies increased from 61.7 billion rupees to 65 billion rupees compared to financial year 2007/2008, representing an increase of 5.4 percent," it said.

Gross premiums in the domestic market were up 18.7 percent during the same period to 13.8 billion rupees ($475.9 million).