Rating agency Fitch has given the US property/casualty companies a vote of confidence based on their performances through the first half of the year.

The rating agency said that the while the first half of the year had seen some impressive results, there was every likelihood that the final two quarters of 2006 would not perform to the same level. However, in its report Fitch said that the market was set to meet or exceed the firm’s estimates for the full year.

James Auden, senior director, Fitch Ratings, said: “If insured catastrophe losses in 2006 return nearer to historic averages, the industry is poised to post strong underwriting profits for the full year.”

Specifically, the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons revealed the potential for greater frequency and higher severity of insured losses related to natural catastrophes. Fitch believes that this realisation will continue to affect pricing and reinsurance availability in catastrophe exposed lines for the foreseeable future.

Roughly two-thirds of the organisations in the Fitch group reported improved underwriting results during the first half of the year. Fiftyone of the 53 insurers reported an underwriting profit for first-half 2006, compared with 48 of 53 in the year-ago period.