20th Jun 2005 07:00
Beazley Group PLC20 June 2005 20 June 2005 Beazley Group Plc AGM Trading Statement At its Annual General Meeting being held at 16h00 today, Beazley Group Plc("Beazley"), one of the Lloyd's market leaders, will update on current trading,as below: Current Trading Underwriting conditions to 31 May 2005 have generally remained favourable and inline with our expectations. The combined syndicates' (2623 and 623) grosswritten premium (net of brokerage) to 31 May 2005 was £322m, compared to £308mfor the previous year. The group's share of this is £225m in 2005 compared to£166m in 2004. The average renewal rate reduction for the period was 2%, in line with ourexpectations. Rates across all classes have been maintained at profitablelevels. The forecast profit for our managed syndicates has improved for 2003 to a rangeof 10.5%-15.5% of capacity from 10%-15% and remains unchanged for 2004 at 3-10%of capacity. Beazley USA, comprising a managing general agent writing business on behalf ofthe Lloyd's syndicates and our recently acquired US admitted insurancesubsidiary, Beazley Insurance Company, Inc, has made further progress. It nowhas 25 employees in six offices in the United States and is beginning to writenew business. It has taken us slightly longer than originally envisaged to getto this point as we have focused our energies on recruiting the best staff,which cannot be rushed. This will have no effect on the group's profits for theyear. The subsidiary aims to be a nationwide network over time and will be ratedby A.M. Best shortly. Jonathan Agnew, Chairman of Beazley, said: "We are pleased that trading conditions remain favourable across our businessareas in 2005. Our underwriters remain focused on developing well-diversifiedportfolios and we continue to invest in opportunities that grow Beazley'sbusiness in a defined and disciplined way." Beazley Plc will be announcing its interim results on 7 September 2005. For further information, please contact: Beazley Tel: 020 7667 0623Andrew BeazleyAndrew HortonNicholas Furlonge Finsbury Tel: 020 7251 3801Melanie GerlisAmanda Lee This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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