London insurance firm increases profit by 250 per cent

A London insurance company has today announced that it saw a 250 per cent rise in profit before tax in 2019.

Beazley, which operates internationally, earned profit before tax totalling $267.7m in 2019, compared to $76.4m in 2018.

The company attributes the difference to a challenging market in the previous year.

Dividends per share also increased, rising 5 per cent from 11.7 pence to 12.3 pence.

It also saw a combined ratio of 100 per cent, rising from 98 per cent in 2018.

Andrew Horton, CEO of Beazley, said: “Beazley achieved a profit before tax of $267.7m in 2019, driven by a very strong investment return of $263.7m.

“Overall gross premiums written increased by 15 per cent to $3,003.9m, with three of our six divisions achieving double digit growth.

“An adverse claims experience across several lines of business, leading to reduced prior year reserve releases, meant that our combined ratio rose to 100 per cent for 2019.

“Despite this, we are optimistic that the remedial action that we have been taking across several lines of business in recent years, alongside the expected continued premium rate increase, will favour us as we move into 2020.”

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