Bermuda re/insurer Argo Group International Holdings Ltd made a loss of nearly $5 million in the fourth quarter, owing to claims related to Hurricane Sandy.The company said last night that all of its estimated pre-tax catastrophe losses of $47.9 million were due to the “superstorm” which battered the east coast of the US last October.The $4.7 million loss compared to net income of $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.Argo’s net operating loss of $5.9 million, or 24 cents per share, was a better result than the loss of 88 cents per share expected by analysts tracked by Yahoo Finance.For the full year, net income was $52.3 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $81.9 million, or $3.02 per diluted share for 2011.Argo wrote more business in the last three months of last year, with gross written premiums of $389.7 million representing an increase of $47.9 million, or 14 percent, over the fourth quarter of 2011.“Notwithstanding Hurricane Sandy’s impact on the fourth quarter, we made significant progress towards our strategic, operational and financial goals,” said Mark Watson III, CEO of Argo Group.“Three of our four business segments produced premium growth and operating profits for the year, and we continue executing on internal initiatives to enhance operating efficiency and profitability. We have more work to do, but I’m optimistic overall about what we can achieve.”Despite Sandy, Argo’s fourth-quarter combined ratio of 109.6 percent was an improvement on the 112.5 percent recorded in the same period of 2011. For the full year 2012, the combined ratio was 104.6 percent compared to 119.8 percent for 2011.Book value per share was $60.75 at December 31, 2012, an increase of 9.3 percent from $55.60 a year earlier.During 2012, the Company repurchased $44.6 million or 1.49 million shares of its common stock, representing 5.7 percent of net shares outstanding at December 31, 2011.Net investment income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $28.5 million, about $1 million less than recorded in the same period of 2012.