Allied World Assurance Company Holdings Ltd. swung back to net income of $200.6 million for the third quarter of 2009 as it continued to expand its specialty insurance lines.

The company, which made a net loss of $46.4 million or 95 cents per share for the same time last year, also saw its profits for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 up $445.6 million or $8.62 per share versus $163.8 million or $3.22 per share, for the first nine months of 2008.

It also reported operating income of $155.4 million or $2.97 per share for the third quarter of 2009 compared to $102.8 million or $2.03 per share for the third quarter of 2008.

President and CEO of Allied World, Scott Carmilani, said: "We are very excited to report record operating results in the third quarter 2009 as we continue to effectively manage through the sluggish market environment.

"The company's net operating income was $155 million, which is the best quarterly result in our company's history.

"This equates to a very impressive 22.2 percent annualised operating return on shareholders' equity for the quarter.

"Given these continued excellent results, we are also announcing that our board has increased the quarterly dividend by 11 percent, to 20 cents per share, beginning with our fourth quarter dividend. "