Chart breakout at Beazley

Heavy director share-buying in December, just weeks after third-quarter results, should have told us something was up at Beazley. Now, full-year numbers from the Lloyd's of London insurer have beaten expectations and there's a bigger-than-forecast special dividend, too.

A 10% increase in second-half pre-tax profit to $143 million (£115 million) was $33 million, or 30%, ahead of consensus estimates, according to broker UBS. Underwriting and investment returns were the key drivers.

"Overall premium growth doubled to 6% and we were able to develop a number of growth opportunities, particularly in the US, that enabled us to offset areas where market conditions dictated that we cut back," explained chief executive Andrew Horton.

And the dividend is up again, in line with consistent growth of between 5% and 10% since its IPO in 2002. Add in a second interim dividend of 7p and a 10p special payout - ahead of forecasts for just a 7p special - Beazley has returned 20.5p to shareholders for 2016, giving a yield of almost 5%.

"These are another good set of results in a challenging environment, albeit boosted by benign losses, elevated releases and gains again," says UBS analyst Jonny Urwin. "Looking out from here, we expect continued growth in capital requirements to limit scope for specials, should losses run in-line with expectations."

Beazley shares surged as much as 9% on these results to a record high at 450p. Picking up stock before Christmas at between 375p and 386p, Beazley chiefs have made as much as 18% profit in two months.

They're not cheap now, trading on well over 1.8 times estimates for tangible net asset value (TNAV) per share. But these results have propelled Beazley through technical resistance and into virgin territory.

The uptrend now becomes support, currently at around 412p. That becomes the level to watch in the weeks ahead.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.