Goshawk Insurance, which writes insurance and reinsurance policies in the Lloyd's of London market, last week revealed the scale of the losses inflicted by the World Trade Centre attack - 11 million.

It was also hit by the sinking of the Petrobas oil rig 7 million and the Tamil Tigers attack on Colombo airport 1 million.

The London-based insurer, Goshawk made a 7.4 million loss in 2001 - its first ever.

However, the company is considered one of the best growth stories in the quoted insurance sector because of Bermuda after it set up a reinsurance business on the Island with the 100 million raised in a rights issue last year.

While the office will take slightly longer to get up to speed than previously forecast, doing business in Bermuda is considered cheaper than at Lloyd's and Goshawk is likely to use debt to increase the size of the business further.

Predictions are that with insurance premiums soaring, Goshawk shares should trade above its net tangible asset value of 87 pence, not at last week's 71.5 pence.