(Reuters) - British property and casualty insurer Lancashire Holdings Ltd reported a 53.6 percent jump in quarterly net premiums written, helped mainly by its acquisition in late 2013 of Lloyd's of London insurer Cathedral Capital Ltd.
The company's shares rose more than 4 percent in early trading on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Lancashire, which insures assets such as ships, aircraft and oil rigs, reiterated that it would likely return most if not all of its earnings to investors later this year.
No major catastrophe losses were recorded in the quarter ended June 30 and the insurer earned 0.6 percent on its investments, compared with a loss of 0.6 percent a year earlier.
The company's pre-tax profit fell about 29 percent to $41.5 million, short of the average analyst estimate of $46.5 million, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
However, Numis analyst Nick Johnson, in a note to clients, described the results as "satisfactory, with a number of positives that should strengthen confidence in future earnings."
Lancashire's shares were up 4.1 percent at 630 pence at 0735 GMT.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Ted Kerr)