9 February 2014 News

Beazley warns of intensifying competition

Beazley delivered some small growth and a substantial increase in its profits in 2013. It also warned intensifying competition in some areas but also remains bullish on its ability to find profitable opportunities across the breadth of its business.

The company made a pre-tax profit of $313.3 million in 2013 compared with $251.2 million in 2012. Its return on equity for the year was 21% compared with 19% the year before and its gross written premiums increased by 4% to $1.97 billion. At 84%, its combined ratio was the lowest it has ever achieved since listing in 2002.

Andrew Horton, chief executive of Beazley, said: “Beazley delivered an exceptional underwriting performance in 2013, reflected in the lowest combined ratio we have recorded since becoming a public company in 2002.  It was a quiet year for catastrophe losses, which contributed to the strong reserve releases from short tail classes of business, but the business lines that are not exposed to catastrophes also performed excellently.

"Despite intensifying competition in some areas, we continue to identify attractive growth opportunities across the breadth of our well diversified portfolio. The strength of our underwriting performance gives us the financial flexibility to take advantage of these opportunities while still enhancing returns to shareholders through a special dividend and an increased regular dividend."

Dennis Holt, the company’s chairman, echoed this message: “Achieving profitable growth is not easy in the current insurance market and as we signalled at half year we see a number of markets in which we operate becoming more competitive.

“That said, we do see profitable opportunities for moderate premium growth within our existing risk appetite in the course of 2014. In the board's view, Beazley remains on track towards the achievement of its vision.”

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