(Bloomberg) - ACE Ltd., a Bermuda-based business insurer, earned $355 million in the third quarter as it raised premiums.

Net income was $1.22 a share, compared with a net loss of $57 million, or 24 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement distributed by Business Wire. The company had $205 million in investment losses in the year-earlier period as stocks and derivatives declined.

Excluding realised investment gains and losses, profit more than doubled to $304 million, or $1.04 a share. On that basis, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial was $1.02 a share.

Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault had increased rates on insurance such as directors' and officers' liability coverage, capitalising on a retreat by competitors after scandals at companies including Enron Corp. In July, the company raised its 2003 forecast for growth in property and casualty premium revenue to as much as 45 percent from 38 percent.

Shares of the company, which released earnings after the close of trading, fell 42 cents to $33.82 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock is up 15 percent this year.

ACE was the tenth-biggest US commercial insurer last year, when it sold 2.5 percent of policies, according to A.M. Best Co.