Insurer Lancashire Holdings profit before tax up at $67 mln in H1

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Property and casualty insurer Lancashire Holdings Ltd reported an 18 percent rise in first-half pretax profit despite challenging market conditions as it continued to moderate its risk exposure against a tough underwriting environment.

The company, which writes policies for heavy-duty assets such as oil rigs, ships and aircraft, said pretax profit rose to $66.7 million in the six months ended June 30, from $56.6 million a year earlier.

The quarterly profit before tax rose to $38 million from $30.1 million a year earlier.

The insurer's gross written premiums fell to $381.2 million in the first half of the year, and its combined ratio fell to 78.4 percent year to date from 76.2 percent last year.

"With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) our risk levels at historic lows, if there are no major events over the coming wind season, and no change in market conditions, we anticipate returning earnings to our shareholders later in the year," Group Chief Financial Officer Elaine Whelan said. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva in London and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)