French reinsurer Scor has reported net profit of €286 million ($449 million) for last year, down 52.6% on 2016.

However, gross written premium increased 7% to €14.79 billion ($23.22 billion), with equal growth in the life and property and casualty (P&C) sectors.

Chairman and CEO Denis Kessler has hailed the result given an “exceptional” series of natural catastrophes last year.

“Scor successfully passed this real-life stress test, once again demonstrating the resilience of its business model and its shock-absorbing capacity,” he said.