(Reuters) -Spain's largest insurer Mapfre said net profit jumped in the first nine months of the year as higher prices, more benign weather, and less severe natural disasters lifted the profitability of its non-life business.

Mapfre shares were up 3.2% by 0846 GMT, making them the best performers in Spain's blue-chip IBEX 35 index and putting them on track for their strongest daily gain since July.

Net profit rose 39% to 654 million euros ($804 million) on 21.62 billion euros in premiums.

The group's non-life combined ratio - the industry's key profitability measure - improved by 2 percentage points to 94.8% - a favourable shift attributed to premium increases on insurance policies and fewer and less severe natural disasters.

A devastating earthquake in Turkey in early 2023 had cost the company more than 100 million euros in the first half of last year.

Mapfre also recorded a 90 million euro accounting loss on the writedown of the value of Verti Germany, its auto insurance unit.

The company had already booked a 75 million euro writedown on its car insurance business last year in the U.S., where the prices of cars and car parts were rising faster than insurance premiums.

($1 = 0.9250 euros)