Market Report: Lancashire Holdings storms to record high as numbers leave forecasts in the shade

Insurer Lancashire Holdings notched up its best day on the stock market as shares surged on better-than-expected annual results. The FTSE 250 company managed to blow analyst forecasts out of the water for the final three months of the year despite turbulence in the industry. UBS analysts had pencilled in a sharp fall, but admitted the result had come in about $20 million, or 64%, higher than they expected as Lancashire “side-stepped some of the larger losses in the market”.