Beazley swings to a pre-tax loss of £36.83 million in fiscal 2020

Beazley plc (LON: BEZ) said on Friday that it concluded fiscal 2020 with a pre-tax loss of £36.83 million. The company, however, expressed confidence that a significant recovery is expected in 2021. In the previous financial year, it had posted £195.60 million of profit. In its statement on Friday, Beazley said:

“At Beazley, we felt the impact of the pandemic-related losses, reporting an estimated £248.43 million in first-party claims net of reinsurance in 2020, largely driven by our exposure to cancelled events, and to have ultimately yielded a financial loss has been disappointing.”

The COVID-19 crisis has so far infected a little under 3.9 million people in the United Kingdom and caused more than 110 thousand deaths.

Beazley says its combined ratio slid to 109%

The insurance company said that its combined ratio in the recently concluded financial year slid to 109% versus 100% in fiscal 2019. In separate news from the UK, Unilever said on Thursday that its net profit slid to £4.93 billion in fiscal 2020.

Gross premium written, the London-based company added, jumped to £2.60 billion versus the year-ago figure of £2.19 billion. For fiscal 2021, Beazley now forecasts its combined ratio to print in low-90s. The company also expressed confidence that it will resume dividend payments later this year.

Beazley shares jumped roughly 5% in premarket trading on Friday and gained another 10% on market open to trade at £271 per share. The price action should come in handy if you are interested in investing in the stock market.

CEO Andrew Horton’s comments on Friday

CEO Andrew Horton commented on the financial update on Friday and said:

“Despite the harsh effects of the pandemic and a deep global recession, we are optimistic that the positive market change of the last 12 months and the resilience that we have demonstrated puts us on a strong financial and operational footing to support our clients and to grow profitably in 2021. We expect to deliver a low-90s combined ratio for 2021 assuming average claims experience,”

Beazley said last month that Christine LaSala will succeed Sir Andrew Likierman as Chair of its Remuneration Committee.

Beazley performed largely downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of close to 35%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £2.27 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 32.39.