Aspen Insurance Holdings yesterday said second-quarter profit after tax surged to $84.6 million from $9.1 million for the same period last year on low catastrophe activity and pricing improvement.The company reported net earnings per diluted share of $1.03 for the quarter ended June 30 compared with net earnings per diluted share of $0.05 in the second quarter of 2011.Gross written premiums in the second quarter of 2012 increased 15 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to $666.6 million from $582.2 million with the majority of the growth resulting from a 25 percent increase in the insurance segment, Aspen said.Aspen’s combined ratio was 87.3 percent for the second quarter of 2012 compared with 105.3 percent in 2011.Net investment income in the second quarter fell to $52.8 million from $58.6 million.For the half-year to June 30, net income after tax was $163.3 million compared to a loss of $143.7 million in the first six months of 2011. Net investment income in the first half of the year fell to $105.2 million from $114.1 million in January through June 2011.The company said it benefited in the quarter from “low catastrophe levels, areas of pricing improvement, especially in loss affected and peak zone property lines, and net favourable reserve development. The insurance segment had a strong performance with targeted premium growth and a combined ratio of 92.2 percent while continuing to make progress in developing its US insurance footprint. The reinsurance segment had an excellent quarter with a combined ratio of 79 percent.”Aspen CEO Chris O’Kane said: “Our operating income for the second quarter was $106 million, or $1.32 per diluted share, the result of strong underwriting results in both reinsurance and insurance, supported by solid investment returns.“Diluted book value per share grew 3.7 percent to over $40, a first for Aspen and we generated an annualised operating return on equity of 13.6 percent. I am very pleased with the strong results for the quarter as we enter the second half of the year, with a strong capital base and total assets now over $10 billion.“We continue to be committed to returning capital to shareholders through our share repurchase programme when we are not able to use our capital in a manner we believe to be sufficiently productive.”