UPDATE 1-Aspen Insurance posts Q3 profit

* Q3 net income $1.62/shr vs loss/shr $1.63 last yr

* Q3 oper earnings $1.40/shr vs oper loss $1.02/shr yr-ago

* Q3 est EPS $1.13/shr

* Sees Q4 gross written premiums about $2 bln

* Sees Q4 combined ratio 84-88 pct

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd (AHL.N) reported a third quarter profit, partly helped by a rise in net earned premiums and a tripling of net investment income.

The property and casualty insurer said net income in the quarter was $144.7 million, or $1.62 a share, compared with a net loss of $126.1 million, or $1.63 a share, last year.

Operating earnings were $1.40 per share for the quarter, compared with an operating loss of $1.02 per share a year earlier.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.13 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net investment income rose to $58.9 million, up from $19.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Net earned premiums increased by about 9 percent to $470.9 million. Aspen's combined ratio was 80.3 percent for the quarter, compared with 123 percent last year. Combined ratio is the percentage of premiums an insurer has to pay out in claims and expenses. A figure over 100 indicates that underwriting was unprofitable.

The Bermuda-based company said it expects total gross written premiums of $2 billion, plus or minus 5 percent, and a combined ratio in the range of 84 percent to 88 percent for the last quarter of 2009.

Aspen's shares closed at $26.24 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)