Admiral reports profit increases in first half

The numbers are looking good for British insurer Admiral Group.

Announcing its interim results this morning, the Cardiff-headquartered firm reported mostly ‘pluses’ in terms of percentage changes from last year’s figures to this year’s over the first six months. Thanks go to Admiral’s insurance business in its home market.    

Here’s how the insurer fared in the period:

• Underwriting profit – £93.4 million, up from £88.9 million in the first half of 2017
• Operating profit – £216.3 million, up from £199 million
• Group statutory profit before tax – £210.7 million, up from £193.4 million
• Group share of profit before tax – £211.7 million, up from £194.5 million
• Group turnover – £1.66 billion, up from £1.45 billion

When group share of pre-tax profit is broken down, results show that a huge chunk came from the UK insurance business – £247 million from last year’s £225.8 million – while international insurance posted a loss of £0.6 million, which is notably lower compared to the previous loss of £10.1 million.

Splitting the UK insurance business further, you’ll find that motor was the key driver with its higher profit of £249.5 million, up from £224.2 million previously. Meanwhile household, due to weather events, posted a £1.9 million loss – a reversal from last year’s £1.6 million profit. In addition, there was a small loss from Admiral’s recently launched travel insurance product in the UK.

The group’s price comparison business, meanwhile, made a combined profit of £3.5 million – an improvement from £3.1 million in 2017. Confused.com was cited as the main contributor, with its increased profit of £5.8 million from £4.5 million in the first half last year.