Beazley shares drop almost 9% on cut to premium growth outlook

By Ryan Hewlett

Aug 13 - (The Insurer) – Beazley’s share price fell almost 9% in early trading on Wednesday after the London-listed (re)insurer reported a near one-third drop in half-year profit and reduced its written premium growth guidance for the year.

• Beazley reports 31% drop in half-year profit

• CEO Cox highlights strong profit amid complex market conditions

• Analysts note mixed investor reactions to growth and profitability

Shares in the carrier were trading at 830.50 pence apiece just before 10am GMT in London on Wednesday, down 8.94% on the previous close.

The sell-off followed the pre-market release of Beazley’s half-year 2025 results, which saw the carrier report a pre-tax profit for the six months ended June 30 of $502.5 million, down 31% from $728.9 million a year earlier, as gross written premiums rose 2% to $3.19 billion.

Beazley’s profit before tax marked a 10.9% beat on analyst consensus, according to investment bank Jefferies, while its headline insurance written premium figure missed by 2.1%.

Beazley CEO Adrian Cox stressed that profit remains “strong” with the performance reflecting the carrier’s “continued ability to navigate complex market conditions with discipline and agility”.

The (re)insurer also noted that its top-line growth of 2.0% reflects its “disciplined approach and is fully aligned with our strategy of prioritising rate adequacy and long-term profitability over short-term income”.

Jefferies’ analyst Philip Kett predicted in a note following the results announcement that investors would be pleased with the profitability, and reassured by Beazley's “proactive stance” on the market cycle. However, Kett said the lack of growth would likely weigh on the shares in Wednesday trade.

“To our mind, Beazley's H1 2025 results are perhaps a precursor of what lies ahead more broadly. On the one hand, investors have been delivered a strong underwriting result that beats consensus (+3%),” Kett said.

“On the other hand, softening rates have prompted revenue to miss (-2%), and management's prudent cycle management has led them to reduce the revenue guidance (low to mid-single-digit, down from mid-single digit).”

KBW’s Darius Satkauskas separately welcomed Beazley’s reiteration of its 2025 guidance for the mid-80s undiscounted combined ratio but flagged the downward adjustment to its top-line guidance for the insurance contract written premiums from a mid-single-digit growth rate to low to mid-single-digit.

Satkauskas also noted that the group's reduction to its Solvency 2 position “has materially improved” from 264% at the end of December 2024 to 287% at the end of June 2025.

“Whilst the market will likely see today's top-line guidance change as disappointing, we think lower growth figures coupled with a strong Solvency 2 ratio support our view that investors should continue to expect Beazley to return material amounts of capital going forward,” said Satkauskas.