Allied World and Brit, which both have operations in Bermuda, helped drive premium growth for parent company Fairfax Financial Holdings in the second quarter.

Fairfax, a Canadian holding company, said growth in its global insurance and reinsurance operations was led by Brit, with the company writing more new business despite pricing pressure across parts of the market.

The group reported that net premiums written across its property and casualty insurance and reinsurance operations increased 2.4 per cent year-over-year to $7.34 billion, while underwriting profit rose to $458.6 million from $426.9 million. The undiscounted combined ratio improved slightly to 93.1 per cent from 93.3 per cent.

Fairfax said premium growth reflected “growth in new business despite a more competitive pricing environment in certain lines of business in the Global Insurers and Reinsurers reporting segment, principally at Brit”.

Bermudian-headquartered Allied World reported second-quarter gross premiums written of $2.07 billion, broadly unchanged from a year earlier, while net premiums written edged down 1.9 per cent to $1.4 billion.

Underwriting performance strengthened, with Allied World’s undiscounted combined ratio improving to 90.2 per cent from 91.1 per cent. Its first-half combined ratio also improved to 91.8 per cent from 93.4 per cent.

Brit has a Class 4 reinsurance company in Bermuda and has been growing its island presence. Brit saw gross premiums written increase 5 per cent to $947.4 million in the quarter, while net premiums written climbed 8.3 per cent to $795.8 million. For the first six months of the year, gross premiums were up 4.4 per cent and net premiums rose 7.6 per cent.

Brit's underwriting profitability softened slightly during the quarter, with its undiscounted combined ratio rising to 94.6 per cent from 92.2 per cent a year earlier. However, its first-half combined ratio improved to 93.8 per cent from 95 per cent, indicating stronger performance over the longer period.

Across Fairfax’s global insurers and reinsurers division, which includes Allied World, Brit, Odyssey Group and Ki, gross premiums written increased 2.8 per cent to $5.09 billion in the quarter, while net premiums written rose 2.1 per cent to $4.05 billion. The segment posted an undiscounted combined ratio of 92 per cent, compared with 91.7 per cent a year earlier.

Overall, Fairfax reported second-quarter net earnings attributable to shareholders of $1.39 billion, compared with $1.44 billion a year earlier.

• This story was generated by machine and edited by The Royal Gazette newsroom