𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Insurance firm Beazley has revealed its profits tumbled by more than half over the past year six months, ahead of its mammoth takeover by rival Zurich.

Boss Adrian Cox said the company was knocked by “rapidly softening conditions” in the specialist insurance market.

It comes after the group was snapped up by Swiss insurance giant Zurich in March in a deal worth £8.1 billion.

Beazley shareholders will receive £13.35 per share as a result of the deal, which will take the FTSE 100 company off the London Stock Exchange.

On Wednesday, Beazley said it expects the deal to complete by the end of the year.

It came as the company told shareholders pre-tax profits slumped by 52.7% to 237.7 million US dollars (£176.6 million) in the first six months of 2026, compared with a year earlier.

Bosses said this included 33.6 million dollars (£25 million) of costs linked to the takeover.

The profit slump was primarily linked to a “challenging risk landscape”, with the volatile geopolitical backdrop resulting in losses linked to war and conflict.

It also revealed that net insurance premiums slipped by 6% to 2.44 billion dollars (£1.71 billion) for the half-year.

Mr Cox, chief executive of Beazley, said: “Against a backdrop of increasing global turbulence, in particular cyber risk exposures and increasing geopolitical events impacting our political violence and marine war books, we have continued to use our expertise to underwrite appropriately and provide valuable services to our clients.

“As a result, while our incurred attritional claims have been better than expected, the first half of 2026 has seen a return to an active large loss environment, compared to the more benign experience seen in recent years.”

Jefferies equity analyst Philip Kett said the update makes for “difficult reading” for Zurich shareholders ahead of the deal.

Beazley is a specialist insurer, with a burgeoning cyber cover offering, as well as cover across professional indemnity, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business.

Zurich has more than 63,000 employees and has its headquarters in Switzerland.