Lloyd’s of London underwriter Beazley reiterates annual guidance

Beazley has upheld annual profit expectations after the underwriter posted a healthy increase in written premiums during the first quarter of the year.

The Lloyd’s of London firm’s gross written premiums expanded by 12 per cent to $1.37billion in the first three months of the year.

This was supported by premiums in the firm’s property risks division soaring 56 per cent to $347million, while they surged by 24 per cent in its cyber risks segment thanks to strong growth across Europe.

Beazley told investors this offset weaker rate rises and cost impacts resulting from the Ukraine war.

Performance: Lloyd’s of London underwriter Beazley reported that the level of gross written premiums expanded by 12 per cent to $1.37billion in the first three months of the year

Beazley recently undertook a £350million share placing to help finance its reach in the cyber sector, which tends to have higher written premiums.

Beazley continues to anticipate the volume of gross written premiums will swell by a ‘mid-teens’ percentage this year, while net premiums are forecast to grow by their ‘mid-20s.’

It also reiterated its ‘high 80s’ full-year combined ratio guidance – a key measure of insurers’ profitability. Any figure below 100 per cent denotes a profit.

Beazley chief executive Adrian Cox said: ‘The first quarter saw us deliver good headline growth in line with our expectations, underpinned by growth in property, where we are taking advantage of the excellent and continuing market conditions.

‘Our diversified business, together with our ability to adapt according to the underwriting pricing cycles, allow us to adjust as opportunities and challenges emerge.

‘We are positive in terms of our outlook for the first half and are confident of delivering our full-year guidance.’

In March, the London-listed company revealed profits nearly halved to $160.8million (£134.6million) last year due to fixed-income investment losses from interest rate hikes.

Central banks have been implementing multiple interest rate increases as a result of high inflation caused largely by skyrocketing energy prices pushing up inflation in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This caused significant mark-to-market accounting losses in Beazley’s fixed-income portfolio, which delivered a $179.7million investment loss.

Beazley shares were 4.8 per cent higher at 597.5p on Friday morning, making them the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index. Over the past two years, they have soared by around 82 per cent.