Bermuda's insurance and reinsurance big hitters enjoyed a mixed bag of results for the third quarter 2007, amassing a total profit of $2.916 billion, down from the $3.2 billion accrued in the second quarter.

Leading the way were the big two of ACE and XL Capital, who reported net incomes of $656 million and $371.6 million and combined rations of 88.5 and 85.3 respectively.

Meanwhile, a total of $14.589 billion was written in gross premiums, with ACE and XL again out in front with respective figures of $4.4 billion and $1.9 billion.

ACE saw its profits soar by 13 percent during a successful third quarter, a percentage rise that exactly mirrored the percentage profit loss suffered by their closest rival and neighbour XL, while its net income climbed from $578 million to $656 million year-on-year, representing an increase of $78 million.

Evan Greenberg, chairman and CEO of ACE, said: "We had another excellent quarter, marked by strong earnings and book value growth.

"It was a particularly strong quarter given the record-breaking results of the third quarter last year."

XL's profits fell by more than $50 million due mainly to losses on investments and sub-prime exposure during a tough third quarter period.

It reported net income of $371.6 million for the quarter compared to $425.9 million for the same period last year, representing a drop of $54.3 million or 13 percent.

In a conference call to investors, XL's chief investment officer Sarah Street explained the company had, in the past three months, reduced its $90 million exposure to lower-rated sub-prime securities to less than $10 million and the company realised losses of approximately $48 million through selling off sub-prime securities during the third quarter.

The rest of the top 10 was pretty much unchanged with Axis moving into third spot courtesy of a net income of $279.1 million and gross premiums written of $755.2 million.

The big climbers included PartnerRe, which leapt from 10th to fourth place, with profits of $262.9 million and gross premiums written of $877.9 million, while 2005 start-up Validus broke into the top 10 as it revealed a $136.5 million profit and $797.6 million in gross premiums written.

In fact, Validus almost doubled its profits for the third quarter 2007, thanks largely to strong underwriting and improved capital usage, seeing its net income climb from $69.7 million or $1.19 per diluted common share in the third quarter 2006 to $136.5m or $1.90 per diluted common share for the equivalent period this year.

Ed Noonan, chairman and CEO of Validus, said: "We are pleased to report an annualised net operating return on average equity in the quarter of 32.9 percent.

"Our results in the quarter reflect strong underwriting results across almost all lines of business in both Bermuda and London.

"Our results also reflect the benefits of improved capital utilisation through our acquisition of Talbot, with the exposure and earnings diversification that it brings to the Validus group."

Going the other way, Allied World Assurance Company dropped out of the top 10, from eighth to 12th, after its suffered a slight downturn in profits for the third quarter with a drop of $5 million from $114 million in 2006 to $109 million for the same period this year.

Gross premiums written were also down, this time by 23.8 percent at $276.3 million compared to $362.5 million last year, with $32.8 million of that decrease down to the timing of renewal and estimated premium adjustments in its reinsurance segment.

Scottish Re also slumped significantly from a lofty position of 12th to 23rd, recording a loss of $107.1 million.