24th Jul 2015 07:08
LONDON (Alliance News) - Specialist insurer Beazley PLC on Friday posted a higher pretax profit for the first half of 2015 on the back of a better return on equity and higher gross written premiums in the period.
The FTSE 250-listed company, which manages Lloyd's of London syndicates, said its pretax profit was USD154.5 million for the six months to the end of June, up from USD132.9 million a year earlier. The company said its return on equity in the half improved to 20%, compared to 17% a year ago.
Gross written premiums for the company increased 2% in the half to USD1.10 billion, up from USD1.08 billion.
Beazley said it would pay an interim dividend of 3.3 pence per share, up from 3.1 pence.
"This was an excellent first half for Beazley with premiums and profits both rising. Premiums generated by our US underwriters rose by 25%, counterbalancing the highly competitive conditions elsewhere. In London, we are still witnessing downward pressure on rates for large risk and short tail classes of business, the effect of which has been masked by subdued claims activity," said Chief Executive Andrew Horton.
"I am confident that our strategy and the composition of our portfolio will continue to position us well in the event of more challenging market conditions," Horton added.
Shares in Beazley opened down 0.5% to 318.9 pence on Friday morning.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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