Daily briefing: Tuesday - Rivals circle Hardy

The Lloyd’s and London market is no closer to knowing what will happen at Hardy since it said it was considering a sale at the start of December. There has been no shortage of interest in the Lloyd’s insurer, which has been ravaged by catastrophe losses in the last year.

Today we reported some valuable insights into the potential sale of Hardy. Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan explained why the business is attracting much attention from rival firms, including Beazley, which expressed an interest shortly before Christmas but has yet to make a firm offer.

Hardy is a diverse business, with footprints in many international sectors. This has helped it established itself among the elite Lloyd’s players under chief executive Barbara Merry, but has also left it prone to substantial losses due to its exposure in catastrophe hit areas (losses net of reinsurance for the Thai floods in 2011 was between £10m and £25m).

Hardy has knocked back an offer from Beazley in the past over the valuation of its shares. But since then the losses have struck and would-be suitors will no doubt be thinking that they can pick up the business on the cheap. Hardy has a tough job ahead convincing potential buyers that the business is stable enough to overcome the losses and that it can offer value in the future.

How bad will Costa Concordia be for Lloyd’s?

The fallout from the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster is ongoing. We reported yesterday how Hannover Re expects its losses to reach £25m, and today we reported Moody’s view that claims could be seen in insurer’s first-quarter results.

There may be some relief for Lloyd’s insurers, however, as the burden is more likely to fall on reinsurers, according to Moody’s. But the costs are still being counted and with so much strain already on Lloyd’s players, is it too early to ask whether the disaster, expected to be the largest marine loss in history, could put any more pressure on Lloyd’s insurers to consider merging?