It’s no disaster for insurer whose profits got shaken

Investors endured another violent swing on the market as the FTSE 100 fell 1.5pc, or 108.73 points, to 7170.69, losing most of the ground it had regained the previous session.

the move was driven by fears the Bank of england might hike interest rates faster than expected, after it upgraded its forecast for the UK economy and vowed to tackle inflation.

It was, however, good for sterling, which passed $1.40.

natural disasters wiped 43pc off of profits at insurance group Beazley. Devastating hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires saw pre-tax profit in 2017 drop to £120m from £209m the year before, despite the value of the premiums it wrote rising 7pc to £1.6bn.

Crucially, Beazley saw its combined ratio (a measure of an insurer’s profitability – a ratio below 100pc indicates a profitable business) reach 99pc, which was up from the year before.

But the market was still upbeat about the outlook. numis and shore Capital both raised their rating for the stock to ‘buy’. Chief executive Andrew Horton said performance had been strong, given market conditions, and added: ‘We see potential for double-digit growth in 2018.’ shares leapt 5.5pc, or 29p, to 560.5p.

Sophos shares plunged even with analysts providing reassurance that its trading update was ‘strong’. the cyber security firm saw billings growth slow in the nine months to December 31, but it was still up 20pc. Perhaps investors hoped for more – network security is a hot area of investment at the moment, amid the threat of cyber-attacks.

While sophos saw revenues rise 19pc over the period, it also recorded an operating loss of £26.6m. shares plummeted 17.5pc, or 108.5p, to 513p.

DFS said performance was on track at the halfway point in its financial year. It has opened five new showrooms and delivered sales growth of 4pc. It warned trading was likely to remain challenging in 2018 as consumer confidence has dipped, but expects the second half to be stronger, with modest earnings growth boosted by cost savings. shares gained 3.8pc, or 7.2p, to 199.4p.

rob Pitcher was revealed as new chief executive of bar group Revolution, though no start date has been announced. He was previously on the executive committee of pub group Mitchells & Butlers. It is a welcome boost for revolution, whose share price tumbled last year after it warned that rising wages and inflation costs could hit the firm. shares edged up 1.4pc, or 2.3p, to 163.3p. elsewhere in the pub industry,

EI Group is set to push on with expansion plans. It said market conditions and bad weather affected the 18 weeks to February 3, but strong beer sales helped drive like-for-like sales growth of 6.8pc in its managed pubs.

EI has 291 managed pubs and aims to add up to another 100 over the course of the year, as well as growing leased pub numbers from 331 to as many as 400. shares advanced 2.3pc, or 3p, to 134.8p.

Meanwhile, BGEO Group said its investment business had acquired a beer producer in Georgia. Black Lion is the largest producer of craft beer in the country. BGeo shares were off 0.6pc, or 22p, at 3500p. online holiday booking site On

The Beach said the first four months of its financial year saw solid growth as holidaymakers booked their getaways. the collapse of airline Monarch helped, by reducing the number of available seats to passengers, which has pushed up prices.

OTB said its websites in sweden and norway were showing strong growth and it will launch in Denmark. shares were flat at 501p.