Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. yesterday reported posted a deeper loss in the third quarter ended September 30, owing to a $412.6 million non-cash charge.

The financial services and insurance holding company posted a net loss of US$359.2 million, or $20.41 per share, compared with a restated loss of US$208.6 million, or $13.19 a share, in the year-earlier period.

The one-time charge stemmed from a decision to commute a US$1 billion corporate insurance cover reinsured with a Swiss subsidiary,

Underwriting income at the firm’s insurance and reinsurance operations, the profit on insurance sales after all expenses have been paid, totalled US$16.4 million in the third quarter.

Net premiums written during the quarter, which are premiums written after reinsurance transactions, rose 2.6% to US$1.24 billion compared with the September quarter a year ago.

Fairfax announced in late July that it would restate past financial results because of mistakes in accounting for some transactions between 1998 and 2001. The restatement stripped US$235 million from shareholders’ equity as of March 31, 2006.