One of Bermuda?s newest insurers, Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd., this week announced a $1.8 million profit for the second quarter.

In an earnings statement, the Nasdaq-listed company ? which provides specialty insurance, reinsurance, and risk consulting services through subsidiaries in Bermuda, the US, UK and Ireland ? said its net income for the second quarter of 2004 broke down per share to three cents.

It is a much better result than the company?s net loss of $4.5 million, or loss of eight cents per share, during the first quarter of the year.

There is no comparison to the same period a year ago as the company was not set up until May 2003. CEO Tobey Russ said: ?We are extremely pleased to report Quanta?s first profitable quarter, and note that this important milestone was achieved in less than nine months since the company commenced writing business. All of our businesses performed in line with or exceeded our expectations during the quarter.

?As anticipated, our direct specialty lines increased as a proportion of our overall business, with net written premiums accounting for 41 percent of our total underwriting activity during the period compared to 28 percent in the first quarter of 2004. We also saw solid results in our reinsurance business as well as our consulting business.?

Operating income, or net income less losses on investments for the second quarter of 2004, stood at $2.6 million, or five cents per share.

Quanta reported that it had written gross premiums of $135 million during the period, and after ceding to reinsurers, net premiums written were $114.1 million.

This compares to gross written premiums of $118.7 million and net written premiums of $112.5 million during the first quarter of the year. Broken down by segment, Quanta reported that its reinsurance business accounted for $67.1 million and direct insurance for $46.9 million respectively of the company?s total net written premiums.

Net premiums earned were $56.9 million for the second quarter, compared to $27.2 million for the first quarter of 2004.

Revenues from the company?s consulting business totalled $8.3 million in the second quarter of 2004.

Mr. Russ concluded: ?It remains our intention to prudently deploy all of Quanta?s capital by the end of the fiscal year.

?We believe our ability to allocate and deploy capital to those lines in our portfolio that offer the most attractive returns represents a real strategic advantage for Quanta, as it enables us to remain flexible in a market that is constantly changing.?