for the three months ended March 31, 2001 -- nearly two and a half times the amount from the same period the year before.

And the reinsurer reported that this was the best quarter in the past three years of trading.

The company's president and chief executive officer Jim Bryce said the good results were helped by improved market conditions.

Mr. Bryce said: "It is gratifying to report that the improvements in pricing and other conditions that we have previously noted, are reflected in our premium growth this quarter.

"In addition, we can report that the improvements in market conditions have continued into the second quarter of 2001 to date at a similar level.'' In 2000, the company posted net income of $9.8 million, or $0.39 per share, for the three months ended March 31.

Earthquakes and winter storms around the world cost the reinsurer an estimated $7 million during the first quarter of 2001. This compares to a loss of $14 million for the same quarter last year.

IPC Holdings, which is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol IPCR, reported operating income, which excludes net realised gains, of $20 million or $0.76 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to $10 million, or $0.40 per share, for the first quarter of 2000.

Mr. Bryce said: "During the past quarter we have also benefited from cedants' more focused emphasis on quality, which presented opportunities to write new business, and additional business for some of our existing clients.

"This increase in revenues, together with another relatively benign quarter in terms of catastrophe activity, resulted in IPC returning to one of our strongest quarters for approximately three years. We have also continued our strategy of not renewing business where terms and conditions are not improving to our satisfaction, and re-deploying our capacity accordingly.

Net loss and loss adjustment expenses incurred were $7 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2001, compared to $14.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000, a reduction of 53.2 percent.

Losses in the first quarter of 2001 included estimated provisions for moderate events such as the earthquakes in Seattle and Hiroshima, winter storms in the US and storms in Australia, as well as a provision for indexed loss contracts for prior periods.

IPC posts healthy set of results Continued from page 14 In the first quarter of 2000, losses were incurred from events including cyclones Lothar and Martin and Typhoon Bart.

Gross written premiums were $65.6 million in the first quarter of 2001, compared to $57.8 million written in the first quarter of 2000, an increase of 13.5 percent.

Premiums were higher because of rate increases, generally in the range of ten percent to 25 percent for loss free contracts, with greater increases on loss impacted contracts.

In addition, IPC wrote premiums for new business and additional business for existing clients, which offset business which was not renewed because of unsatisfactory terms and conditions, reductions due to declining rates of exchange for certain currencies, as well as a decrease in reinstatement premiums.

Premiums ceded to IPCRe's pro rata retrocessional facility in the quarter ended March 31, 2001 were $0.9 million compared to $1.4 million the previous year.

Net premiums earned in the quarter ended March 31, 2001 were $24.5 million, compared to $22.7 million earned in the quarter ended March 31, 2000, an increase of 7.7 percent.

Total assets at March 31, 2001 were $711.1 million, an increase of 9.8 percent over total assets at December 31, 2000.

At March 31, 2001 total shareholders' investment was $580.9 million, compared to $559.3 million at December 31, 2000, an increase of 3.9 percent.