Bermuda based specialist insurance group, Hiscox, jumped 16% after the company said it would be increasing its capacity of Syndicate 33 to £750 million from £550 million.
Hiscox said that recent turmoil in the financial markets combined with a strong balance sheet had provided opportunities to grow its business.
"We paid off all outstanding debt earlier in the year and our total invested assets at 30 June 2008 were £1.9 billion, on which the investment return for the nine months ending 30 September 2008 was -0.1%," the Company stated.
The Group has also benefited from the recent weakening in Sterling against the US dollar, which was massaging its profits and net asset value per share.
Finally, a relatively quiet hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico meant that Hiscox would likely incur claims of only $175 million for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.