Hiscox Ltd: 1H26 Results – growth guidance upgraded

Research evidence excerpt

M

Update

August 5, 2026 07:17 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+

Hiscox Ltd | Europe

Daniel Wilson-Omordia

Equity Analyst

1H26 Results – growth guidance

upgraded

Hadley Cohen

Equity Analyst

Alexa Psillos, FASSA

Equity Analyst

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Hiscox Ltd (HSX.L, HSX LN)

Unchanged

Modest shortfall

Modest revision higher

Impact to our thesis

Financial results versus consensus

Direction of next 12-month

consensus EPS

Insurance | United Kingdom

The main areas of focus for us today are 1) 2026 Retail ICWP growth guidance was

Stock Rating

Industry View

Price target

Shr price, close (Aug 4, 2026)

52-Week Range

Mkt cap, curr (mn)

Net debt (12/26e) (mn)*

EV, curr (mn)*

upgraded from 8% to 9% in constant currency, although 8.2% growth in H1 means

* = GAAP or approximated based on GAAP

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research

Hiscox published its 1H26 results this morning, which should generally be taken

reasonably well on our initial read, although the headline earnings result is mixed.

Overweight

In-Line

2,030p

1,777p

1,904-1,246p

US$8,006

US$840

US$8,848

this requires an acceleration in H2, 2) the Group undiscounted combined ratio was

1.4pts worse than consensus, although the miss was concentrated in London Market

and appears more than explained by the Middle East loss, and 3) the change

programme remains on track, with $45m of P&L benefit delivered against the $75m

FY26 target.

Details:

1H26 ICWP of $3.24bn was 2.4% ahead of consensus, growing 10.1% year-onyear, while NICWP was broadly in line. Within Retail, ICWP grew 8.2% in constant

currency - UK growth accelerated to 10.2% from 9% at Q1, while US DPD improved

to 9.9% from 9.6%. Europe moderated to 6.2% from 6.8% and US broker slowed to

5% from 6.7%. Management upgraded FY26 Retail growth guidance from 8% to 9%

in constant currency. This is clearly positive, although the 8.2% growth in H1 is only

tracking around the previous guidance and therefore implies a meaningful

acceleration in H2. We expect this to be a focus today and to hear more colour on

the call.

Hiscox London Market ICWP grew 9.8%, or 5.3% excluding prior-year premium

…