LONDON (Bloomberg) - Hardy Underwriting Bermuda Ltd., a Lloyd's of London insurer, said first-half profit rose 10 percent, helped by underwriting at its new 38Twenty syndicate.

Net income for the six months ended June 30 increased to £7.37 million ($13.5 million) from £6.66 million a year earlier, the Bermuda-based company said in a statement on Friday. Revenue from insurance premiums advanced 22 percent to £73.1 million.

"We are very pleased with our performance and with the way our business is positioned in difficult market conditions," CEO Barbara Merry said in a telephone interview. "Although underwriting margins are thinning, volumes have been increasing helped by our new business."

Ms Hardy said in December it would move its headquarters to Bermuda and set up a new venture to expand its underwriting business to include US property. Insurers based in Bermuda, the third-largest reinsurance market in the world, also benefit from lower tax rates.

Hardy shares added 11 pence, or 5.2 percent, to 223 pence in London trading, valuing the insurer at £78.9 million.

The company will pay an interim dividend of 3.6 pence a share, according to the statement.