RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd made a profit of $92.2 million in the fourth quarter, bringing the total net income available to common shareholders for the year to $408.8 million.

Year-on-year the quarterly figure was down from $170.8 million, and the full year total was about $101 million lower than in 2014. Last year the Bermuda company bought out Platinum Specialty Underwriters Holdings Ltd. Kevin O’Donnell, Renre’s chief executive officer, was upbeat with the company’s performance.

“I am pleased to report $135 million of operating income, an annualised operating ROE [return on equity] of 12.5 per cent and 2.3 per cent growth in tangible book value per share plus accumulated dividends for the quarter.

“In a year in which we acquired and fully integrated Platinum, we generated solid operating income of $477.7 million for the year and delivered an operating ROE of 11.4 per cent,” he said. “Our underwriting team executed well during the most recent renewal period, as pressure on pricing from abundant capacity persisted. We maintained discipline, coming off business that did not meet our return hurdles, buying more reinsurance protection, while also building an attractive portfolio of risks.

“We are a bigger, stronger company today, than a year ago, and have the management team, global operating platforms and risk management expertise to serve our clients, third party capital providers and shareholders well in the years ahead.”

During the fourth quarter RenRe’s gross written premiums increased 153 per cent to $336.1 million, for the full year gross written premiums totalled $2 billion, up $460.7 million.

The company has a market capitalisation of $4.92 billion. On the New York Stock Exchange yesterday its shares closed down 2.5 per cent at $112.16.

RenRe’s annual net income, expressed per diluted share, was $9.28.