Underwriting profits slump 96% in six months

Net written premiums for US reinsurers rose by 4%, despite more than half recording a lower gross premium income

The US non-life reinsurance industry posted sharply reduced underwriting profits and lower investment earnings in the first half of 2008 but overall profitability for the sector remained higher than the prior-year period, according to a survey of statutory results by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA).