BERLIN (Reuters) — US catastrophe reinsurance prices, which have come under heavy pressure, held up better than had been expected in critical recent contract renewals, the chief executive of Bermuda reinsurer PartnerRe said yesterday.The discussions in May and June, when many insurers with exposures in the hurricane-prone southeastern US renew their annual risk covers with their reinsurers, were "probably better than expected" for reinsurers, CEO Patrick Thiele (pictured) told journalists at an industry conference in Berlin.

In the aftermath of 2005 hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which cost the insurance and reinsurance industries over $60 billion, the cost of reinsurance cover skyrocketed for US catastrophe-exposed risks.

But then the lack of any major hurricanes last year, the influx of new reinsurers — some backed by hedge funds attracted by the high returns on offer, and Florida's move to offer insurers billions of dollars of cheap reinsurance led to a subsequent fall in prices.

A report released earlier this month by Willis Group Holdings Ltd said US insurers with catastrophe exposures saw price cuts of as much as 20 percent. "There was a lot of concern that the actions of the Florida legislature and the influx of considerable capital into the market would lead to a significant softening in prices," Thiele said.

But "the prices we were able to achieve on business were quite adequate," to reach PartnerRe's long-term profit goals, he said. Thiele said earlier this year that, although prices were falling, lower claims meant the expected profitability of the company's business would exceed its targets.