Beazley returns to the black but investors still unimpressed

Non-life insurer Beazley soared into the black in the first half of 2012, delivering a return on equity of 18 per cent and a combined ratio of 91 per cent.

During the six months the firm generated a profit of $112.9m, compared to a loss of $24.2m the previous year, while gross written premiums rose to $1,013.1m (2011: $924.8m) and net premiums written rose to $650.8m from $635.5m.

Net assets per share increased from 123.8p to 142.9p, while net tangible assets per share climed to 126.7p from 107.8p.

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The dividend per share was boosted from 2.5p to 2.7p per share.

Andrew Horton, Chief Executive Officer, said: "The first six months of 2012 saw written premiums rise as our growth initiatives start to bear fruit. Rates also rose by an average of 3% across our portfolio.

"Rate rises were highest on our catastrophe exposed lines of business, averaging an increase of 5%, as the insurance industry responded to the heavy catastrophe losses of last year. We also saw rates rise, for the first time since 2006, by 3% on the large professional and management liability book underwritten by our specialty lines division.

"Claims experience in the first half of 2012 has been relatively benign, with claims notifications lower than normal and loss development in line with our expectations. Our well established reserving approach entails maintaining a margin of between 5% and 10% in our net held reserves over our actuaries' estimate: the margin currently stands at 7.7% (31 December 2011: 7.4%)."

The firm added that it currently expects to see continued top line growth for the remainder of 2012, fuelled by the investments it has made to launch innovative products and build its underwriting teams.

The share price fell 0.79% to 151.40p by 08:55.

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