The Argus Group has sold its equity interest in Bermuda-based Inter-Ocean Holdings Ltd. for $4.1 million.

But Argus president and chief executive officer Gerald Simons, president and chief executive officer, said the boost to the insurer's net income for 2003 would be offset by losses of $2.7 million in the company's other investments as a result of the dismal investment climate of the last 12 months.

In a Press statement, Mr. Simons said the opportunity to sell such an investment in privately-held Inter-Ocean "does not appear too often and it was with some regret that Argus had decided that this was an appropriate time to bring our participation in Inter-Ocean to a close".

The statement said Mr. Simons hoped that, in the not too distant future, Argus would have an opportunity to reinvest.

"Mr. Simons also noted that this transaction had come in a year where more traditional investments had performed poorly and he reported that in the financial year ending on March 31, 2003 Argus would recognise, as a permanent diminution in value, investment losses totalling $ 2.7 million," the statement said.

Inter-Ocean Holdings Ltd. is a Bermuda-based specialist insurance and reinsurance company founded in 1990. Argus has been associated since its inception in 1990, the statement said, adding that the relationship has been extremely beneficial to both parties.

Inter-Ocean specialised in low retention finite reinsurance and has previously sold a stake to GMAC Re.