"It is pleasing to see the growth of prior years materialising in a strong underwriting and investment performance in 2023."
Sally Lake
Group Finance Director
Executive Sponsor of the Women in Finance Charter
Beazley delivered a profit before tax in 2023 of $1,254.4m (2022: $584.0m), an excellent result consisting of a combined ratio of 71% (2022: 79%) and investment return of 4.9% (2022: (2.1)%).
Result
Profit before tax in 2023 was $1,254.4m (2022: $584.0m). This was achieved through a substantial insurance service result of $1,251.0m (2022: $822.9m) driven by a combined ratio of 71% (2022: 79%). This was complemented by an investment result of $480.2m (2022: ($179.7m)) which represents an investment return of 4.9% (2022: (2.1%)).
Premiums
Insurance written premiums increased by 7% in 2023 to $5,601.4m (2022: $5,246.3m). Rates on renewal business on average increased by 4% across the portfolio (2022: increased by 14%). Strong growth was seen in our Property Risks division, where we have taken advantage of the improving underwriting conditions, with growth of 64%.
Our net insurance written premiums increased by 24% in 2023 to $4,696.2m (2022: $3,772.4m). The higher growth in net premium compared to gross is primarily due to two reasons: Firstly, the change in relationship with syndicate 5623 for our Portfolio Underwriting business. In 2022 this was underwritten by the Group and reinsured out to syndicate 5623, however, from 2023, syndicate 5623 directly underwrote this business as a standalone entity. Secondly, we have actively purchased less proportional reinsurance within our Cyber Risks and Specialty Risks divisions, further increasing our net insurance written premiums.
To read more about our financial performance in 2023, please read our full Financial Review.