INSURER FBD reduced pretax losses by 64 per cent to €7.86 million in the first half of the year on the same period of 2009 despite what it said were the worst weather conditions experienced by the country for many years.

The company incurred exceptional losses of €12 million due to the cold weather last January.

Gross written premiums rose for the first time since 2007, increasing by 1.4 per cent to €183 million as FBD noted premiums had hardened across the industry. Net claims incurred amounted to €124.4 million in the six months compared with €135 million for the same period last year.

Andrew Langford, chief executive of FBD, said the group had no plans to increase rates further in the medium term but that motor insurance rates needed to increase across the industry as some rivals had not adjusted prices above uneconomic levels.

The company had increased its motor and house insurance rates.

FBD wrote down the value of investments by €18 million mainly on its hotels, which include Castleknock Hotel in Dublin and Faithlegg House Hotel in Waterford.

The company has cumulatively written off 45 per cent of the value of the Irish hotels and 42 per cent of the La Cala resort in Spain.

Mr Langford said the group had greatly reduced the downside risk of further write-downs by taking these “prudent provisions”.

He said that “concerted action” was required to address the over-capacity in the Irish hotel sector.

Shares in FBD closed five cent or 0.8 per cent lower at €6.94.

The company’s prominent advertising campaigns for websites, nononsense.ie and fbd.ie, reaped rewards in the first six months as the insurer attracted new customers in Dublin which accounted for 14 per cent of premium income in the period.

Asked whether the group had any interest in Quinn Insurance, which is being sold out of administration, Mr Langford said that it would explore any opportunity to increase value for shareholders.