Beazley a 'hold' after full year results

Insurance group Beazley was rated at ‘hold’ by Peel Hunt on Thursday after the company reported its full-year results.

Peel Hunt said the pre-tax profit of £284, up 8% year-on-year, was slightly below its estimates of $289m but ahead of the company’s expectations of $278m.

Total revenue rose 1% to $1.79bn, as high reserve releases and a benign claims environment partly offset lower-than-expected investment results.

Beazley said it will pay a second interim dividend of 6.6p - up from 6.2p in 2014 - taking full-year dividends for the year to 9.9p. A special dividend of 18.4p would also be paid.

“The special dividend is a better than expected 18.4p (Peel Hunt estimate of 13.6p; consensus 11p) which combined with a final of 6.6p (Peel Hunt estimate of 7p) offers a 7% final yield,” according to Peel Hunt.

“The rate outlook is in line with expectations (circa -2%) and the outlook for returns states an ongoing competitive market with current return on equity unlikely to be sustainable. “

Shares rose 2.24% to 369.40p at 0959 GMT.