Specialist US bond reinsurer Capital Re Corp., in the midst of a takeover struggle between Bermudian insurers ACE Ltd. and XL Capital Ltd., reported a third-quarter net loss yesterday.

The loss was due to a pre-announced reserve charge against discontinued operations at Lloyd's of London insurance market. The company also said that it had not set a date for a shareholder meeting to vote on the latest bid from ACE.

The company's operating profit on continuing business for the quarter was up to $18.6 million, or 51 cents per share, from 40 cents per share last year, matching analysts' consensus estimate.

However, with a $50 million charge for running off and increasing reserves on discontinued operations at Lloyd's, announced last month, Capital Re reported a $39.2 million, or $1.07 per diluted share net loss for the quarter. It made a net profit of 44 cents per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

In the second quarter of this year Capital Re made a net loss of $3.22 per diluted share after heavy reinsurance losses and reserve strengthening.

In its earnings statement the company repeated that it signed a higher value merger agreement with ACE in late October, but did not say when shareholders would vote on the deal, saying only that "Capital Re intends to call a special meeting of its shareholders to vote on the revised merger agreement as soon as practicable following processing of a revised proxy statement/prospectus materials.''