It’s more than beginner’s luck for insurer
Hastings as it marks its first year of public trading with 320,000 new customers.
The company floated on the London stock market in October last year. It now has more than two million policy holders, accounting for around 6% of the total motorist market in Britain.
Its robust growth and the uptick in car insurance prices increased the firm’s revenues by 26% to more than 440 million for the first three quarters of 2016.
“It’s been a year since we listed on the London Stock Exchange and we continue to deliver against all the promises we made at the time of the IPO,” chief executive Gary Hoffman told reporters.
“Hastings has delivered another excellent performance and our agile and digitally focused business model continues to grow our customer numbers in a market that has seen sustained premium rate increases,” he added.
Auto insurance is proving to be a lucrative line as car carriers made their first aggregate profit since 1994 last year, according to the Association of British Insurers. However profit ratio remains minimal as the industry posted £33 million profits on the back of £14 billion premiums.
Revenue data suggest that Hastings is at the front of the pack. According to the insurer, it made almost £43 million in adjusted earnings in the first six months of 2016 after using up 89% of premiums to cover costs and claims.
Hastings shares inched up 2% after the trading update, and have jumped 31% since its initial public offering last year.
