Beazley reports rise in gross written premiums

7th Nov 2013 10:24

Insurance company Beazley saw gross premiums written rise five per cent to 1.5m dollars, driven by growth in reinsurance and political risks and contingency divisions.The firm said claims have "developed favourably" in 2013 and it has had moderate exposure to the floods in Europe during May, the hailstorms in Germany and the floods in Calgary during July.Rate reductions occurred in the marine division due to pressure in the hull and war books but it was offset by strong performance in other businesses including life, accident and health.Investment income for the nine months to through September was $25.1m, an annualised return of 0.8%, compared to 2.1% last year. "Following the mark to market losses made in the first half we are on track to make an annualised investment return of 1.0% in 2013," the company said in its trading update.Shares rose 3.99% to 237.20p at 11:12 on Thursday.RD