For the full-year 2003, Converium said a strong rise in premiums written helped lift its profits. Gross premiums written went up 19.5 percent to $4.22 billion in 2003 from $3.54 billion in 2002, while the company's non-life combined ratio improved from 103.7 to 97.9. Net premiums written for 2003 were $3.83 billion, compared to $3.32 billion in 2002.

Dirk Lohmann, Converium's chief executive officer, said the improvement in 2003 operating income is "clear evidence of the good performance of our core activities, which reflects our stringent underwriting discipline and the current favorable market environment."

Commenting on the 2004 January renewal season, Mr. Lohmann said fundamentals remain favorable for reinsurers. The reinsurer noted that cedents' concerns about credit risks in the reinsurance recoverables on their balance sheets resulted in "promising opportunities for Converium."

"For many cedents wishing to diversify their credit risks, Converium with its strong balance sheet was often the reinsurer of choice. This resulted in an overall non-life premium growth of 2.4 percent of renewable premiums based on constant exchange rates."

About 74 percent of Converium's standard property-casualty reinsurance segment's premiums were up for renewal on Jan. 1, 2004. The impact of improved rates, increased shares and new business?offset by cancellations?resulted in 9.7 percent premium growth on renewable premiums based on constant exchange rates. These increases came predominantly from the general-liability line of business, where rates continued to improve, the company said.

Additionally, some 68 percent of Converium's specialty-lines segment's premiums were up for renewal on Jan. 1, 2004. But the company said that because of weakened prices, terms and conditions, it chose to withdraw some of its capacity from the airline, workers' compensation, and marine and energy markets.

Pulling back on capacity resulted in a 13.8 percent aggregate reduction in premiums in these lines, based on constant exchange rates. For specialty-lines overall, the company reported a premium decrease of 4.4 percent on renewable premiums for the specialty-lines segment based on constant exchange rates.