Hardy Underwriting Bermuda Ltd saw a 6.8 percent increase in sales in the first quarter, the re/insurer announced in its interim report.The company added that catastrophe claims during the first three months of the year were in the range of £21 million and £26 million ($34 million to $42 million), relating to earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and floods and a cyclone in Australia.Gross written premiums grew to £156.4 million in the first quarter from £149.6 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010.Hardy redomiciled to Bermuda from the UK in 2009 and has also set up a reinsurance platform on the Island.The report said of the business being written in Bermuda: “The property treaty portfolio has been highly focused on those risks which have not been previously underwritten in London and we have made good progress.“The expanded offering to include direct property risks has been well received.”Hardy added that it had also made a good start in its new Asian hub in Singapore and in Guernsey, where underwriting recently started with a focus on kidnap and ransom business.But its joint venture company HAIM, in Bahrain, had “taken longer than we initially hoped ... to gain traction in the construction and engineering sphere”, Hardy said, adding that progress had been steady.“The troubles in the Middle East have had no appreciable impact on our underwriting activities,” Hardy said.The investment yield for the quarter was 0.3 percent representing 1.14 percent on an annualised basis. The low risk investment strategy has been maintained and the portfolio remains focused on cash and deposits, on fixed income assets and high grade corporate bonds.In response to a prolonged period of exceptional catastrophe activity, rates for catastrophe exposed property business have already started to increase, in some cases materially. Terms and conditions are tightening as the market becomes increasingly dislocated, the company said, adding it expected its current average property treaty rate rise of 2.1 percent to improve as the year develops. “The exceptional nature of the catastrophes in Q1 should not be underestimated although their impact on Hardy has been mitigated by our extensive reinsurance protections,” Hardy chairman David Mann said.“Hardy is in a strong position, however, to take advantage of the upswing in the rating environment. Our recent recruitment activity demonstrates that we remain committed to providing expertise as well as capacity and to building a larger balanced portfolio delivering above average profits across the cycle.”