London, March 4, 2026, 08:29 GMT — Regular session.
- Beazley shares were little changed in early London trade as investors digested full-year results.
- Zurich’s agreed cash offer remains the main reference point for the stock.
- Traders are watching deal approvals and the company’s next scheduled updates in April.
Beazley (BEZG.L) shares were up 0.04% at 1,290.5 pence by 0829 GMT, barely budging as the specialty insurer’s results hit the tape. 1
This matters now because the company is reporting into a takeover process, not out of it. The business keeps running, but the share price has a ceiling, and any wobble on the deal can quickly bring fundamentals back into focus.
Those fundamentals look less straightforward than last year. Pricing is easing in parts of the market, and cyber remains a bruising line in North America, where insurers have been fighting for growth.
Beazley said pretax profit fell 19% to $1.15 billion in 2025 and it held its interim dividend at 25 pence a share. Insurance written premiums dipped 1% to $6.10 billion and the combined ratio — claims and costs as a share of premiums, with below 100% meaning underwriting profit — rose to 81.2% from 79.0%; average renewal rates, the prices on renewed policies, fell 3.6%. Cyber Risks premiums slid to $1.16 billion from $1.28 billion, and CEO Adrian Cox said the group would stay “resolutely focused on profitable underwriting”; it also said its exposure to events in the Middle East was limited. 2
Zurich agreed on Monday to buy Beazley for 1,335 pence per share, made up of 1,310 pence in cash plus a 25 pence dividend. “Together with Beazley, we will create the world’s leading Specialty underwriter,” Zurich CEO Mario Greco said, while Jefferies said the deal could be read as a sign loss exposures remain contained. 3
Zurich moved quickly to line up the cash. It raised 3.9 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) via a share sale priced at 550 francs and said the net proceeds would help fund the Beazley acquisition, with the rest coming from cash and new debt facilities. 4
RBC Capital Markets cut Beazley to sector perform from outperform and lifted its target price to 1,300p, a small discount to the offer value. It said the deal still needs a shareholder vote in April and flagged the risk of a material sell-off if the offer falls apart. 5
Even with a bid on the table, Beazley’s earnings can still swing on catastrophe losses and big cyber events, and the results show the pricing cycle is turning in places. Any delay on approvals would stretch the gap between the stock and the cash on offer.
Next on the calendar are Beazley’s AGM on April 22 and a first-quarter trading update on April 30. 6
