Beazley divisional head lowers interest

21st Mar 2014 15:40

Clive Washbourn, the Executive Director of the Marine business at Beazley, sold 164,235 shares in the global specialist risk insurance and reinsurance group. Washbourn traded in the shares at 262.9p each. The purchase comes after the company last month expressed confidence in its outlook after revealing a 25% jump in full year pre-tax profits on the back of a strong underwriting performance and a quiet year for catastrophe related loss claims.Pre-tax profits for its year to December 2013 jumped to $313.3m, up from $251.2m a year earlier. Net premiums written by the company - an expert in marine, casualty and property insurance - grew 9% to $1.68bn. Net insurance claims, meanwhile, fell 8% to $719m. The full-year payout has been increased by 6% to 8.8p. The strong performance and confident outlook is further underlined by the special dividend being hiked by 92% to 16.1p from 8.4p for its 2012 year. Washbourn's stake in the group was reduced to 446,096 shares. Top Director BuysJapan Residential Investment Co Ltd. (JRIC) Director name: Mr Raymond ApseyAmount purchased: 30,000 @ 58.50p Value: £17,550Top Director SellsBeazley (BEZ) Director name: Mr Clive WashbournAmount sold: 164,235 @ 262.90p Value: £431,774Big Yellow Group (BYG) Director name: Mr Nicholas VetchAmount sold: 2,229 @ 510.00p Value: £11,368NR