AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will raise approximately $200 million through the sale of 6.8 million common shares in a block trade and could offer up to $200 million in preferred securities as it moves to establish a strong capital position for the January renewal season.

Axis has already raised $250 million selling preferred stock in the aftermath of the hurricanes. The completion of the common shares offering via Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking and any preferred securities offering are not contingent on one another.

The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, primarily to enhance the funding of its insurance and reinsurance operating subsidiaries, AXIS Capital said in a statement.

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Cook told analysts listening to the company?s third quarter earnings call earlier this month that Axis had a significant amount of flexibility when it came to raising capital and would do it l in the most efficient manner possible for the company?s shareholders.

Yesterday he told The Royal Gazette: ?Certainly from our standpoint adding $200 million of common as a first step sends a very strong signal to the rating agencies and then obviously with each dollar of common you raise it increases your ability to access those other hybrid buckets.?

He added that the preferred share offering will further strengthen the company?s capital base with the ratings agencies and the capital strength of the company in client?s minds.

?At the end of the day as we move closer to the all important (January) renewal season we are certainly seeing more visibility on the opportunity and we believe the stronger our capital base is in relation to our peers in industry the better position we are going to be in to take advantage of the opportunistic rating environment for 2006.

?We would certainly view the capital raised last night and the ensuing preferred we are working on now to be capital raising on an opportunistic basis to take advantage of the market opportunity next year,? he said.

This week, the company also projected estimated losses from Hurricane Wilma of $100-$140 million based upon based upon industry loss predictions of $6 to $12 billion.

Axis Capital said that it continues to assess its exposure to unexpected losses resulting from natural disasters, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The company?s loss estimate for Katrina is $723.6 million based on an industry loss prediction of $60 billion. It estimates Hurricane Rita losses at $80.9 million based upon industry loss predictions of $2.5 billion to $7 billion.

At September 30, 2005 Axis had shareholders? equity in excess of $2.8 billion. The company?s shares were down 60 cents or 2.02 percent to close at $29.11 on the New York Stock Exchange.