Bermuda’s Lancashire Holdings reported a fall in net operating profit in its third quarter and said it’s expecting to see some impact from Hurricane Sandy on its full-year results, but that it’s too early to provide a meaningful estimate.The re/insurer’s profit before tax in the three months to September 30 eased to $78 million from $79 million in the same period of 2011.Net operating profit fell to $74.1 million in the third quarter from $87.7 million in 2011.Gross premiums written in the third quarter declined some 20 percent to $113.5 million from $142.9 million the year before, while net premiums written fell to $109.8 million from $133.6 million.The combined ratio, a measure of how well the insurer took on risk, deteriorated to 48.9 percent from 43.5 percent the year before.“With the third quarter producing little in the way of major losses, and with solid investment performance in choppy markets, we are pleased to report our 5.7 percent return on equity,” said Elaine Whelan, Group CFO.“As we watch the US recovering from the massive amount of damage wreaked by Sandy, we will undoubtedly see some impact on our fourth-quarter results. It is, however, simply too early to provide any meaningful estimate for reserves.”She added: “Our recent debt issuance should allow us to absorb Sandy’s impact and still carry more than normal excess headroom into the January 1 renewal season to take advantage of any unforeseen opportunities that may arise. As ever, if we can’t find good ways to put our capital to work, we will reassess our needs and return any surplus.”Group Ceo Richard Brindle said: “Sandy has caused tragic loss of life and significant damage in its progress from the Caribbean through North America. Our thoughts at Lancashire go out to all those affected.“Thankfully, the third quarter has been relatively quiet in terms of catastrophes and we have not suffered significant risk losses so Lancashire has produced another strong set of results.”He said the third quarter return on equity of 5.7 percent, and 13.2 percent for the year to date, continued Lancashire’s “record of consistent increase in book value per share, including dividends”.He added: “In our view, the market outlook in our lines of business is stable. Premium rates will come under pressure for the January renewals with more than enough capacity in the great majority of our lines, but we believe that our emphasis on risk selection helps us to produce superior results across the cycle.“We are surprised with the over positive note which we have seen from some about rate increases, as we do not believe that this will carry into 2013 for most classes.”Lancashire declared a special dividend for 2012 of 90 cents per common share.