Beazley (BEZ.L) - Company Research

Last Updated: 15 September 2026

Beazley plc is one week away from ceasing to exist as a listed company. On 2 March 2026 Zurich Insurance Group agreed a recommended all-cash offer of 1,310 pence per share plus a permitted interim dividend of 25 pence, valuing the Lloyd's specialty insurer at roughly £8.1 billion. Shareholders approved the scheme of arrangement overwhelmingly, all regulatory approvals have now been satisfied, the Court sanction hearing is listed for 22 September 2026, and the Effective Date is expected on 1 October 2026 with cancellation of the London listing around 2 October 2026. Anyone reading this report should treat it as a record of what Beazley is and how it has performed, not as a live investment thesis on a going-concern quoted equity. The share price is already pinned within a couple of percent of the offer terms, so the remaining variable is deal completion, not fundamentals.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Legal name	Beazley plc
Ticker / exchange	BEZ, London Stock Exchange main market; FTSE 100 constituent
Sector	Non-life insurance — Lloyd's of London specialty insurance and reinsurance
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Reporting currency	US dollars; earnings per share and dividends are also reported in pence
CEO / Leadership	Adrian Cox (Chief Executive since April 2021), Barbara Plucnar Jensen (Group Chief Financial Officer, appointed June 2024), Clive Bannister (Chair). The FY2025 financial statements were signed by C Bannister and B Plucnar Jensen on 3 March 2026.
Employees	Average of 2,658 employees during FY2025 (FY2024: 2,492), per note 10 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2025
Revenue (FY2025, insurance revenue)	$6,064.8 million, up 6.8% on FY2024 ($5,678.1 million). Total revenue as defined by the company, including interest on cash and other income, was $6,170.5 million.
Insurance written premiums (FY2025)	$6,100.7 million (FY2024: $6,164.1 million), a decline of 1.0%
Profit before tax (FY2025)	$1,146.5 million (FY2024: $1,423.5 million)
Combined ratio (FY2025)	77.3% discounted, 81.2% undiscounted (FY2024: 74.8% and 79.0%)
Return on equity (FY2025)	19.3% (FY2024: 26.6%)
Market cap	Approximately £7.77 billion at 15 September 2026 (about $10.5 billion at 1.35 US dollars to the pound), on a share price of about 1,304.5p
Net assets per share	616.7p at 30 June 2026 (612.0p at 31 December 2025)
Pending corporate action	Recommended all-cash acquisition by Zurich Insurance Group at 1,310p plus a 25p permitted dividend, total 1,335p per share. Court hearing 22 September 2026; Effective Date expected 1 October 2026.

2. Bull Case and Bear Case

Bull Case

• A cash exit at a defined price: the Zurich scheme pays 1,310p in cash plus a 25p permitted dividend, a total of 1,335p per share, with regulatory approvals already satisfied and only Court sanction outstanding as of 15 September 2026.
• Genuine underwriting franchise: Beazley produced an insurance service result of $1,169.1 million in FY2025 on insurance revenue of $6,064.8 million, an undiscounted combined ratio of 81.2%, and a third consecutive year of roughly $1 billion or better pre-tax profit.
• Cyber market leadership with real infrastructure behind it: Cyber Risks wrote $1,164.0 million of insurance written premiums in FY2025 at a 75.6% discounted combined ratio, supported by Beazley Security, the group's own incident response and threat intelligence arm.
• Strong, liquid balance sheet: cash and investments of $11,976.4 million at FY2025 delivered a 5.2% investment return and $607.5 million of net investment income, with total equity of $4,871.4 million against only $559.6 million of financial liabilities.
• Demonstrated capital discipline: the group returned $1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks from 1 January 2024, including a $503.1 million buyback and $211.0 million of dividends paid in FY2025 alone.

Bear Case

• The cycle has turned and it shows: H1 2026 profit before tax fell to $237.7 million from $502.5 million, the undiscounted combined ratio deteriorated from 84.9% to 93.3%, and annualised return on equity dropped from 18.2% to 7.6%.
• Premiums are shrinking: insurance written premiums fell 4.3% to $3,050.6 million in H1 2026 and insurance revenue fell to $2,734.7 million from $2,933.6 million, as the group declined business rather than chase inadequate rates.
• Cyber pricing is the pressure point: cyber underwriting shrank 8.8% in FY2025 against 7.7% growth the year before, with management describing the US rating environment as unsustainable — the flagship division is the one facing the hardest market conditions.
• Deal risk has not disappeared: the scheme still requires Court sanction on 22 September 2026 and delivery of the Court order to the Registrar of Companies. Until those happen the shares carry completion risk with almost no upside, since they already trade close to the offer terms.
• No independent future to underwrite: on completion, holders receive cash and lose exposure to a franchise that has compounded net assets per share from 504.7p at mid-2024 to 616.7p at mid-2026. There is no continuing listed security to roll into.

3. Revenue Segments

Beazley reports five underwriting divisions. The percentages below are of FY2025 insurance written premiums of $6,100.7 million as disclosed in the Group Chief Underwriting Officer's statement in the Annual Report and Accounts 2025. From 2026 the group has said Digital will no longer be reported separately, with its capabilities absorbed into the underwriting divisions.

Segment / division	% of FY2025 insurance written premiums	What it is
Specialty Risks	32.4% ($1,976.8m)	Professional lines, management liability and other complex commercial liability business; the largest division and the main home of US casualty exposure
Property Risks	28.4% ($1,732.8m)	Commercial and high-value property, including catastrophe-exposed risk; revenue recognition is seasonally weighted to the second half
Cyber Risks	19.1% ($1,164.0m)	First and third party cyber cover including ransomware and data breach, plus the Full Spectrum Cyber proposition and Beazley Security services
MAP Risks	16.3% ($995.6m)	Marine, accident and political risk, including war, terrorism, political violence and a growing renewable energy book
Digital	3.8% ($231.5m)	Small commercial and SME business traded through digital distribution; reported separately for the last time in FY2025

4. Business Model and Moat

How it makes money. Beazley earns from two distinct sources. The first is underwriting margin: it collects premium, pays claims and expenses, and keeps the difference. In FY2025 insurance revenue of $6,064.8 million less insurance service expenses of $4,436.6 million, reinsurance premium allocation of $906.4 million and amounts recoverable of $447.3 million produced an insurance service result of $1,169.1 million. The second is investment return on the float held between premium receipt and claim payment: $607.5 million of net investment income in FY2025, a 5.2% return on cash and investments of $11,976.4 million.

Unit economics. The combined ratio is the single number that matters. At 81.2% undiscounted in FY2025, roughly 19 cents of every dollar of insurance revenue fell through as underwriting profit before investment income. The FY2025 claims ratio was 44.5% and the expense ratio 32.8%. Division-level discipline varies: Property Risks ran a 29.7% claims ratio, Specialty Risks 58.1%. When the cycle softens, as it did in H1 2026, that margin compresses fast — the undiscounted combined ratio moved to 93.3% in six months.

The moat. Beazley's advantages are structural rather than contractual. Lloyd's licences and the syndicate platform give worldwide trading rights that are slow and expensive for a newcomer to replicate. Two decades of cyber claims data underpin risk selection in a line where most competitors are still guessing. Beazley Security turns claims handling into a service relationship and a data feedback loop. And an A-rated US excess and surplus carrier, Beazley Excess and Surplus Insurance, gives direct access to the fastest-growing part of the US commercial market.

Why Zurich wanted it. The acquisition logic is coverage rather than cost: Zurich gains Lloyd's access, a leading cyber book, and US E&S capability that would take years to build organically. That is also the reason the offer carried a meaningful premium to the pre-announcement price.

5. Financial Health

All figures are from Beazley's own reported accounts: the Annual Report and Accounts 2025 published 11 March 2026, the FY2023 and FY2022 annual reports, and the H1 2026 and H1 2025 results announcements. Beazley adopted IFRS 17 from FY2023 and restated FY2022. FY2021 is presented on the earlier IFRS 4 basis and is not directly comparable.

Fiscal Year	Revenue — insurance revenue (US$ millions)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021	3,346.3	n/d	50.9c	50.9c	12.9p	$554.7m
FY2022	4,848.4	n/m	79.0c	79.0c	13.5p	$562.5m
FY2023	5,442.4	+12.2%	154.7c	154.7c	14.2p	$554.6m
FY2024	5,678.1	+4.3%	175.1c	175.1c	25.0p	$576.0m
FY2025	6,064.8	+6.8%	149.4c	149.4c	25.0p	$559.6m

† Beazley does not report an adjusted, underlying or non-GAAP earnings per share. The Adjusted EPS column therefore repeats the statutory basic EPS in cents. ‡ FY2021 is the "Revenue" line of the pre-IFRS 17 income statement, being net earned premiums plus investment and other income; from FY2022 the figure is IFRS 17 insurance revenue with FY2022 restated. The FY2022 year-on-year change is shown as n/m because the two bases are not comparable, and FY2021 is shown as n/d because FY2020 falls outside the window presented. Long-term debt is the reported financial liabilities balance, comprising Tier 2 subordinated notes ($250.0m of 5.875% notes due 2026 and $300.0m of 5.5% notes due 2029) together with derivative financial liabilities.

Quarter / Half	Revenue — insurance revenue (US$ millions)	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
H1 2026 (6m to 30 Jun 2026)	2,734.7	31.2c	31.2c
H1 2025 (6m to 30 Jun 2025)	2,933.6	67.2c	67.2c
H1 2024 (6m to 30 Jun 2024)	2,730.6	86.8c	86.8c
FY2025 (full year)	6,064.8	149.4c	149.4c

Beazley reports half-yearly. In pence, basic EPS was 23.2p in H1 2026, 52.5p in H1 2025, 68.7p in H1 2024 and 113.4p for FY2025. Profit before tax was $237.7m in H1 2026, $502.5m in H1 2025, $728.9m in H1 2024 and $1,146.5m in FY2025. The undiscounted combined ratio was 93.3%, 84.9%, 80.7% and 81.2% respectively.

Balance sheet and cash flow. At 31 December 2025 total assets were $16,193.3 million against total liabilities of $11,321.9 million, leaving total equity of $4,871.4 million. Cash and cash equivalents were $1,368.5 million and financial assets at fair value $10,607.9 million. FY2025 net cash inflow from operating activities was $1,314.8 million, against investing outflows of $66.9 million comprising $13.4 million of plant and equipment purchases and $53.5 million of software and intangible development. Depreciation and amortisation charged in FY2025 was $44.7 million (FY2024: $27.6 million). Financing outflows of $797.0 million included a $503.1 million share buyback and $211.0 million of dividends. At 30 June 2026 total equity had risen to $4,896.2 million, cash was $1,115.8 million and financial liabilities $552.5 million. Eligible Tier 2 capital stood at $608.8 million at FY2025.

6. Valuation Metrics

Raw metrics, September 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

An important caveat before reading the table: with the Zurich scheme at Court on 22 September 2026, the share price is functioning as a deal price rather than a fundamental valuation. Every multiple below is therefore effectively a restatement of the offer terms.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~£7.77bn (~$10.5bn at 1.35 US dollars to the pound), on a share price of about 1,304.5p at 15 September 2026
Offer value	1,335p per share in total (1,310p cash plus a 25p permitted dividend), valuing the equity at roughly £8.1bn. The shares trade about 2.3% below the total offer terms, which is the market's pricing of completion risk and the time to payment.
Enterprise value	~$9.93bn (market cap ~$10.5bn + financial liabilities $552.5m − cash and cash equivalents $1,115.8m, both per the 30 June 2026 balance sheet). For an insurer this figure is of limited use because the investment portfolio and insurance liabilities dwarf the capital structure items.
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~11.5x (share price 1,304.5p / FY2025 basic EPS of 113.4p). Beazley does not report an adjusted EPS, so there is no alternative earnings multiple to present. On annualised H1 2026 earnings of 23.2p the multiple would be materially higher, reflecting the softer half.
P/E (forward)	n/m — the company has withdrawn from independent forward guidance ahead of the Zurich transaction, and ChartsView does not use analyst consensus estimates.
P/S (TTM)	~1.79x (market cap ~$10.5bn / trailing twelve-month insurance revenue of ~$5,865.9m, being FY2025 $6,064.8m less H1 2025 $2,933.6m plus H1 2026 $2,734.7m)
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	n/m — EBITDA is not a meaningful measure for an insurance underwriter. Interest is a component of the operating result through net investment income, and depreciation and amortisation of $44.7m in FY2025 is immaterial against profit before tax of $1,146.5m. Price to book, shown below, is the standard alternative.
Price/book	~2.12x (share price 1,304.5p / net assets per share of 616.7p at 30 June 2026). At FY2025 net assets per share of 612.0p the multiple is ~2.13x.
P/FCF	~8.4x (market cap ~$10.5bn / FY2025 free cash flow of ~$1,247.9m; free cash flow is operating cash flow of $1,314.8m less capital expenditure of $66.9m, being $13.4m of plant and equipment and $53.5m of software and other intangibles). Note that an insurer's operating cash flow includes investment purchases and sales, so this measure is noisier than for an industrial company.
Dividend yield	~1.9% (FY2025 dividend of 25.0p against a share price of about 1,304.5p). A further 25p permitted dividend forms part of the Zurich offer consideration.
52-week high	1,304.0p
52-week low	749.9p
Short interest (% of float)	Not published for this period. The FCA's daily short positions file contains no disclosed net short position in Beazley, and UK individual short-position disclosure changed from 13 July 2026. Verify at fca.org.uk short positions daily update.
Days to cover	Not published for this period — no disclosed UK short position exists from which to derive it. Verify at fca.org.uk short positions daily update.

Watch how the shares behave into the Court hearing on the ChartsView Live Charts page, and check the wider macro schedule on the Economic Calendar.

7. What Are They Building

Bermuda. Beazley stood up a Bermuda platform during 2025 and 2026, writing property treaty reinsurance where it reported exceeding its targets by August 2026, and adding alternative risk transfer and mortgage indemnity capability in the second half of 2026. A parametric and structured solutions team established a permanent Bermuda presence in summer 2026.

Cyber insurance-linked securities. Chief Executive Adrian Cox has described securitisation as the next step for systemic cyber risk, with a cyber ILS fund targeted for launch in 2026 and the Bermuda entity providing the vehicle. This matters because it is the mechanism by which Beazley could keep growing cyber premium without absorbing all the aggregation risk on its own balance sheet.

US excess and surplus. Beazley Excess and Surplus Insurance received an A (Excellent) financial strength rating from AM Best, and the group has been transferring roughly $1.6 billion of E&S business from Syndicate 623 into the new carrier, with Names representing around 97% of capacity approving the move.

Renewable energy underwriting. The acquisition of kWh Analytics, a US renewable energy managing general agent, completed in March 2026 and has been embedded into the MAP Risks team, adding data and underwriting capability across solar and wider renewable portfolios.

The honest caveat. Every one of these initiatives now becomes Zurich's to fund and direct. Whether the cyber ILS fund, the Bermuda build-out and the E&S transfer continue in their current form after 1 October 2026 is a decision for the acquirer, not for Beazley's board.

8. Competitive Landscape

Beazley competes in specialty lines at Lloyd's and in the US surplus market. The comparison that matters in 2026 is the combined ratio, because every listed specialty insurer is navigating the same softening rate environment.

Peer	Market cap (September 2026)	Key 2025/2026 metric
Hiscox Ltd (LSE: HSX)	~£5.97bn	Undiscounted combined ratio of 90.4% in H1 2026, improved from 92.6% in H1 2025 (Hiscox 2026 interim results, 5 August 2026)
Lancashire Holdings Ltd (LSE: LRE)	~£1.54bn	Undiscounted combined ratio of 90.8% in H1 2026, improved from 97.8% a year earlier (Lancashire H1 2026 results)
Conduit Holdings Ltd (LSE: CRE)	~£0.65bn	Undiscounted combined ratio of 92.6% and return on equity of 7.8% in H1 2026 (Conduit H1 2026 interim results)
Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB)	~$131.9bn	Property and casualty combined ratio of 83.8% for Q2 2026 and 83.9% for the six months to 30 June 2026 (Chubb Q2 2026 results)

On that basis Beazley's H1 2026 undiscounted combined ratio of 93.3% was the weakest of the UK-listed group, having been among the strongest a year earlier at 84.9%. The swing was driven by softening rates in cyber and property plus an active large-loss environment, and by the cost of standing up the Bermuda operation and integrating kWh Analytics.

9. Leadership and Insider Activity

Adrian Cox has been Chief Executive since April 2021, having succeeded Andrew Horton. Barbara Plucnar Jensen joined as Group Chief Financial Officer in June 2024 from Tryg A/S, and Clive Bannister has chaired the board since April 2023. Below board level, 2026 brought a reshuffle: in June 2026 the group named co-leads for Specialty Risks and an interim chief executive for Beazley Furlonge, the Lloyd's managing agency. Insider dealing in 2026 has been dominated by routine long-term incentive plan vesting and the associated tax sales, which is what one would expect ahead of a scheme of arrangement when discretionary dealing windows are closed.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Adrian Cox (Chief Executive)	04 Mar 2026	LTIP exercise and sale to cover tax	77,032 options exercised	~£12.89 average sale price	Not separately disclosed	Long-term incentive plan; post-transaction holding 1,352,506 shares (0.22% of issued capital)
Adrian Cox (Chief Executive)	01 Apr 2026	LTIP exercise and sale	113,079 options exercised; 53,281 shares sold	1,267.21p	£675,182.16	Long-term incentive plan vesting and associated sale
Paul Bantick (Group Chief Underwriting Officer, Cyber)	06 Mar 2026	Sale	18,360	Not disclosed in the alert reviewed	Not disclosed in the alert reviewed	Share-plan related disposal
Paul Bantick (Group Chief Underwriting Officer, Cyber)	10 Apr 2026	Purchase and matching award	141 partnership shares plus 141 matching shares	1,272.00p	£1,793.52 for the purchased shares	UK Share Incentive Plan 2023; matching shares awarded at nil cost
Clive Bannister (Chair)	02 Mar 2026	Irrevocable undertaking	Entire beneficial holding	Not applicable	Not applicable	Undertaking to vote in favour of the Zurich scheme, disclosed in the Rule 2.7 announcement

10. Key Risks

• Deal completion: the scheme requires Court sanction at the hearing listed for 22 September 2026 and delivery of the Court order to the Registrar of Companies. Any delay or failure would leave holders exposed to a share price that has already absorbed the takeover premium.
• Softening rate cycle: H1 2026 insurance written premiums fell 4.3% to $3,050.6 million and the undiscounted combined ratio rose to 93.3% from 84.9%, which the company attributed to an acceleration in rate softening across cyber and property.
• Systemic cyber aggregation: Cyber Risks was 19.1% of FY2025 premiums. A single widely propagated cloud, software supply chain or ransomware event could trigger correlated losses across the whole book rather than isolated claims.
• Catastrophe exposure: Property Risks was 28.4% of FY2025 premiums, with natural catastrophe accumulation identified as a principal risk in the group's own risk framework. H1 2026 already reflected an active large-loss environment.
• Reserve adequacy in US casualty: Specialty Risks ran a 58.1% claims ratio in FY2025 with adverse prior year development of $183.0 million in that division. US social inflation has forced reserve strengthening across the sector.
• Investment portfolio and interest rates: net investment income of $607.5 million was more than half of FY2025 profit before tax. A sharp move in rates or credit spreads on the $10,607.9 million fair value portfolio would flow straight to earnings.
• Execution cost of new platforms: H1 2026 expenses rose partly because of standing up the Bermuda operation and acquiring kWh Analytics, compressing margins in the same period as rate softening.
• Governance and reputation: the 2025 departure of the former Chief Risk Officer over non-financial misconduct allegations resurfaced in June 2026 media coverage, a reminder that conduct risk carries reputational cost in the London market.

11. Recent Developments

• 02 Mar 2026 — Zurich agrees recommended all-cash offer. Zurich Insurance Group and Beazley announced a Rule 2.7 offer of 1,310p cash plus a 25p permitted dividend, total 1,335p per share, valuing Beazley at roughly £8.1 billion. The Chair gave an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour.
• 04 Mar 2026 — FY2025 results published. Insurance revenue $6,064.8m, profit before tax $1,146.5m, basic EPS 113.4p, undiscounted combined ratio 81.2%, return on equity 19.3% and an interim dividend of 25.0p covering the whole year.
• 10 Mar 2026 — kWh Analytics acquisition agreed. Beazley agreed to acquire the US renewable energy managing general agent, later embedded into the MAP Risks division.
• 11 Mar 2026 — Annual Report and Accounts 2025 published. Total assets $16,193.3m, total equity $4,871.4m, cash and investments $11,976.4m, average headcount 2,658.
• 22 Apr 2026 — Annual General Meeting held, per the company's published financial calendar.
• 16 Jun 2026 — Senior leadership changes. The group named co-leads for Specialty Risks and an interim chief executive for Beazley Furlonge, the Lloyd's managing agency.
• 05 Aug 2026 — H1 2026 results. Insurance written premiums down 4.3% to $3,050.6m, insurance revenue $2,734.7m, profit before tax down to $237.7m, undiscounted combined ratio 93.3%, annualised return on equity 7.6%, net assets per share 616.7p.
• 05 Aug 2026 — Bermuda property treaty targets exceeded, with alternative risk transfer and mortgage indemnity capability planned for the second half of 2026.
• 10 Sep 2026 — Final regulatory approvals confirmed. Zurich and Beazley confirmed that all regulatory conditions had been satisfied, with the Court hearing set for 22 September 2026 and the Effective Date expected on 1 October 2026.

12. Key Dates to Watch

• 22 Sep 2026 — Court sanction hearing for the Zurich scheme of arrangement
• 01 Oct 2026 — expected Effective Date of the acquisition, once the Court order is delivered to the Registrar of Companies
• 02 Oct 2026 — expected cancellation of Beazley's listing and admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange
• Expected Oct 2026 — despatch of cash consideration to shareholders, stated as within 14 days of the Effective Date
• TBC — FY2026 full year results. Beazley's published financial calendar lists no reporting date beyond the 5 August 2026 interim results, consistent with the company expecting to be private before its next scheduled report.

If the scheme completes on the expected timetable there will be no further Beazley reporting calendar to track. Share views on how the Lloyd's specialty cycle plays out from here on the ChartsView Forum.

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