Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance has reined in its catastrophe and individual risk business because of the soft market.

“We have the capacity and desire to write substantially more business when appropriate pricing can be obtained,” Berkshire Hathaway group says in its half-year report.

The group’s insurance underwriting profit fell 39% in the first half to $US872 million ($935.72 million). The company says its reinsurance arm made large gains last year.

The insurance business increased gross written premium (GWP) by 2% to $US21.19 billion ($22.74 billion). Subsidiary General Re’s GWP grew 7% to $US3.17 billion ($3.4 billion), while Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance’s GWP fell 23% to $US3.61 billion ($3.87 billion).

The company says there were no significant catastrophe losses.

Berkshire Hathaway group increased net profit by 3% to $US11.1 billion ($11.91 billion) for the half year.