Beazley up as Thai flood losses remain stable

Beazley, the specialist insurer, has managed to avoid any major claims during the first quarter, while losses from the Thai floods of last year have not increased.

Gross written premiums for the three months to the end of March were £465m, up 9% on the same period of 2011.

Investments and cash grew 1% on the prior year to £4.027bn, with the investment return at 1.9% - against 0.9% in 2011.

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The rates Beazley is charging for insurance have increased by 2%.

Crucially, the firm says "there has been no adverse development in any of our large loss estimates, including Thailand". This matters because last year was unusually bad for insurers. The floods in Thailand and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan created a very high number of claims.

Shares in Beazley had climbed 1.9% by 09:12.

BS