Bermuda reinsurer Validus Holdings last night announced a 2012 profit of $408.4 million but a fourth-quarter loss of $90.7 million with the impact of Hurricane Sandy.Validus said the $361 million impact of Sandy was consistent with its initial estimate.Commenting on the company’s 2012 financial results released after the US markets closed, Validus’ chairman and CEO Ed Noonan said: “Validus delivered solid financial results during 2012, a year which included Hurricane Sandy, one of the largest insured catastrophe losses on record.“Validus’ net income in excess of $400 million for the year and double digit growth in diluted book value per share plus dividends reaffirm the value of our strategy and business model. Validus’ three operating segments — Validus Re, Talbot, and AlphaCat — are all leaders in their respective markets.“Although each of these businesses stands on its own, they are united by a focus on short tail classes of business and draw upon the outstanding personnel and technical resources available throughout the company.”Validus net income of $408.4 million, or $3.99 per diluted common share for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $21.3 million, or $0.14 per diluted common share, for 2011.Net operating income for 2012 was $333.8 million, or $3.26 per diluted common share, compared to $52.3 million, or $0.44 per diluted common share, for 2011Mr Noonan said Validus entered this year in “an excellent position”.“The recent acquisition of Flagstone has provided additional scale in Validus Re’s core property catastrophe reinsurance business, Talbot’s focus on Marine and Property classes will allow it to capitalise on loss driven rate increases, and AlphaCat recently announced a significant increase in third party capital under management.“Together with over $4 billion of common shareholders’ equity, $5.2 billion of total capitalisation and a high grade investment portfolio, Validus has the size, scale and security to provide significant capacity to our clients and their intermediaries.”The net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2012 was $90.7 million, or $(0.94) per diluted common share, compared to net income of $27.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted common share for the same quarter of 2011.Net operating loss attributable to Validus for the three months ended December 31 was $(100.8) million, or $(1.05) per diluted common share, compared to net operating income of $23.4 million, or $0.21 per diluted common share, for the 2011 period.The results of Flagstone were included in the consolidated financial statements from the November 30, 2012 acquisition date of the reinsurer.Validus stated “the aggregate purchase price paid for Flagstone by the company was $646 million for adjusted net assets acquired of $695.7 million”.Validus said there was $20.2 million of termination expenses and $6 million for amortisation of intangibles related to the Flagstone acquisition.During the January 2013 renewal season, the Validus Re and AlphaCat segments underwrote $655.6 million in gross premiums written, an increase of 12.7 percent from the prior year period, Validus said.Gross premiums written for the fourth quarter were $311.8 million compared to $278.3 million, an increase of $33.6 million, or 12.1 percent. And net premiums earned for the three months ended December 31 were $499.3 million compared to $488.3 million for 2011 quarter, an increase of $10.9 million, or 2.2 percent.