Bermuda-based global insurance and reinsurance provider Axis Capital has reported mixed results for the first half, but has turned around some losses from the previous year.

Net income for the six months ended June 30 was $US290 million ($277 million).

During the corresponding period last year the company had a net loss of $US283 million ($270 million), which it attributed to losses from “numerous natural catastrophe and weather events”.

Axis President and CEO Albert Benchimol says improvement is occurring across the company due to better market conditions.

“Growth is strong in markets that have shown improvement in pricing and in lines where investment in product or geographic expansion in recent years is gaining traction,” he said.

Gross written premium (GWP) was down by around 2% for the six months ended June 30 to $US2.6 billion ($2.5 billion).

Second-quarter GWP was down by 3% to $US1 billion ($0.9 billion), compared to the second quarter of last year.

The company’s insurance operation reported GWP of $US1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) for the six months to the end of June, up 8% on the corresponding period in 2011.

Underwriting income came in at $US35 million ($33 million), compared to a loss of $US28 million ($27 million) for the first half of last year, largely due to a “lower level of natural catastrophe activity”.

The reinsurance segment reported GWP of $US1.3 billion ($1.2 billion) for the half-year, which was down 10% for the comparable period last year. Axis says this is due mainly to the decision to withhold catastrophe capacity in the first quarter.

Reinsurance underwriting income was at $US147 million ($140 million) for the six months to June 30, compared with a sizeable underwriting loss of $US405 million ($387 million) for the corresponding period in 2011, which the company says was driven by natural catastrophe activity.