Admiral turnover reduced by weaker UK market
Car insurance specialist Admiral Group has announce a seven per cent decline in turnover this morning to £528m in the third quarter to September. The firm remains on track to meet its expectations this year, with international car insurance turnover up 26 per cent on the same period last year. (Release)
UK Car insurance turnover dropped 12 per cent to £440m (it was £502m in the third quarter of 2012) and car insurance vehicle count was flat at 3.03m. However, group vehicle count was up three per cent to 3.64m.
International Car Insurance turnover increased by 26 per cent to £49m like-for-like, with vehicle count up 19 per cent to 500,000. Chief executive Henry Engelhardt, commenting that the firm has reached the half a million milestone for vehicles insured beyond the UK, said "all our price comparison operations continue to grow, and we are making good progress with our new home insurance product."
The focus, he added, is on profitability: "Year-on-year market premiums are down, a situation which we believe will ultimately cause the cycle to turn. The current environment has led us to reduce UK turnover, but encouraging trends in our claims experience and our industry-leading combined ratio means that we continue to deliver strong returns for our shareholders."