It’s not exactly a doom and gloom period for the largest insurers in the country, is it? After a host of positive results from the likes of
Aviva,
AXA,
Aon and
Allianz last week, now it is the turn of
Hastings Group to report some eye-catching returns.
Announced earlier this morning, the firm has seen its gross written premiums climb by 28% to stand at £462 million, compared to £360.6 million one year earlier, while net revenue is up 22% at £345.2 million. Profits after tax are up 36% to £57.9 million.
Behind the success has been a strong trading performance with a 22% increase in adjusted operating profit to £86.5 million, as well as sustained increases in customers – live policies have climbed by 15% to reach 2.54 million. All of this has seen Hastings Group grow its share of the UK private car insurance market to 7.0% - up from 6.2% one year earlier.
According to chief executive officer Gary Hoffman, however, the company won’t be resting on its laurels – with continued investments in its claims and broking platforms.
‘’We continue to invest in our digital and data-driven model to ensure that we price our business in an agile and responsive manner,” he said. “This approach allows us to maintain our robust underwriting discipline and has delivered a loss ratio for the period of 73.4%, which is below our target range.
“Our profitable business model is highly cash generative and we have further reduced our net debt in line with our targets whilst improving the solvency coverage ratio to 173%. Our profitability and healthy financial position means we are declaring an interim dividend of 4.1 pence per share, a 24% increase from 2016.
“Supported by our 2,900 colleagues, we are well on course to deliver on our ambitious 2019 targets and continue our strong momentum into the second half.’’
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