Bermuda reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd trounced Wall Street estimates as it reported net income of $124.2 million for the second quarter.In a statement released after the markets closed last night, the company said it remained strong to deal with potential claims from the ongoing hurricane season, despite a net loss for the six months of the year of $682.8 million.Second-quarter operating earnings per share were 98 cents, comfortably exceeding the expectation of 56 cents of analysts polled by Bloomberg.PartnerRe paid out more than $1 billion in catastrophe claims in the first three months of the year and tornadoes in the US during the second quarter cost the company another $89 million, as the firm announced last week. It also booked an increase of $59 million to its first-quarter catastrophe loss estimates in the second-quarter results.For the second quarter, the company said its losses related to the 2011 catastrophic events are estimated to be $181 million pre-tax, net of reinstatements, reinsurance and commission adjustments. Total direct catastrophe losses for the first half of 2011 were estimated at $1.26 billion.“The second quarter of 2011 was another active period in terms of catastrophe-related losses for the industry, with a series of severe weather events across the US in April and May, along with a number of smaller losses, including another earthquake in New Zealand in June,” PartnerRe chief executive officer Costas Miranthis said.“Despite the impact of these losses on catastrophe-exposed short-tail lines, the remainder of our portfolio continues to perform well, and as a result our capital position remains strong as we head into the US wind season.”Mr Miranthis added that PartnerRe had reduced some catastrophe exposures during the including the Japanese renewal which was delayed from April 1, in order to “bring greater balance to our overall risk portfolio and ultimately maximise the risk-adjusted return potential of the total portfolio”.“As we expected, we saw some encouraging signs in the June and July renewals,” Mr Miranthis added. “We observed increases in catastrophe rates in most territories with significant increases in loss-affected lines and we selectively took advantage of these improvements. Longer-tail lines remain flat.”For the second quarter, net premiums written were down five percent to $1.1 billion, as the company cancelled and non-renewed business in order to reposition its portfolios following the integration of Paris Re, as well as competitive pricing.PartnerRe’s non-life combined ratio was 101.7 percent and benefited from 17.8 points, or $161 million, of net favourable loss development on prior accident years.Total capital was $7.4 billion at June 30, 2011, down seven percent from $8 billion at December 31, 2010. The decrease was primarily due to the comprehensive loss of $641 million for the first six months of 2011, which was driven by the net loss of $683 million and partially offset by an increase of $44 million in the currency translation account. The figure also reflects the issuance of $374 million 7.25 percent preference shares in June.Total shareholders’ equity was $6.6 billion at the end of June compared to $7.2 billion six months earlier. During the first half of the year book value per common share fell to $83.71 from $93.77.