PartnerRe Ltd crushed analysts’ estimates as the company booked a profit of close to half a billion dollars in the third quarter.The Bermuda reinsurer posted net income of $486.7 million, or $7.53 per share for the July through September period, representing an increase of 170 percent from the profit earned in the corresponding period last year.Operating earnings totalled $3.90 per share, close to double the $2.08 per share average estimate of analysts polled by Yahoo Finance, and well ahead of the $2.41 per share earned in the third quarter of 2011.The company‘s book value gained eight percent in the quarter and operating return on equity was 18 percent.Net income for the first nine months of 2012 was $1.02 billion, a huge swing from a $502.6 million net loss suffered in the first three-quarters of 2011, when the company was hit by massive claims from natural disasters including the Japan earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Irene.Although the company wrote slightly less business — gross premiums written were $1.06 billion compared to $1.1 billion a year earlier — it benefited from a lack of catastrophic events.PartnerRe president and chief executive officer Costas Miranthis said: “We had an excellent third quarter, generating an operating return on equity of 18 percent, driven by strong underwriting results and below average large loss experience.“All in for the first nine months of 2012, our solid underwriting performance resulted in a Non-life combined ratio of 85.1 percent and an operating return on equity of 14 percent.“While net investment income reflects the continued difficult investment environment, we recorded significant gains in our investment portfolio due to tightening credit spreads, improved equity markets and lower risk free rates. As a result we grew our book value per share over eight percent in the quarter and 17 percent year-to-date.”For the third quarter, the non-life combined ratio — the ratio of premium dollars spent on claims and expenses — was 80.7 percent, indicating strong underwriting profitability. This included 18.2 points (or $189 million) of net favourable loss development on prior accident years.For the first nine months of 2012, the non-life combined ratio was 85.1 percent and included 17.2 points (or $468 million) of net favourable loss development on prior accident years.PartnerRe has grown its shareholders’ equity strongly this year to $7.1 billion from $6.5 billion at the end of 2011.For the third quarter net investment income was $135 million, down 15 percent on a constant foreign exchange basis compared to last year, primarily reflecting lower reinvestment rates.