Diamond and elephant.co.uk car insurer Admiral has set its sights on further overseas growth after revealing a five per cent rise in half-year profits.
The company generated turnover of £24.5 million from 100,000 customers in Spain, Germany and Italy, but is now working on the launch of an Elephant-branded US car insurance operation based in Richmond, Virginia.
In the UK, where the company also has the price comparison website Confused, the number of car insurance customers rose 18 per cent to 1.92 million.
Profits from UK car insurance lifted 18 per cent to £101.2 million, but Confused fell 29 per cent to £11 million as a result of continued strong competition and the cost of rebuilding and marketing its website.
Chief executive Henry Engelhardt said the overall business continued to show strong growth and achieved record profits of £105.3 million in the six months to the end of June.
He added: “Considering the general economic climate and pathetic investment returns this was an outstanding result.”
The improved trading performance means Admiral’s employee share scheme will award £4.5 million shares to more than 3,000 staff, resulting in an average payment similar to last year’s £1,500.
Cardiff-based Admiral said it increased rates for new business and renewals by around 5.5 per cent in the first half of 2009, in line with the rest of the market. It means its rates have now risen by 8 per cent in the past 12 months.
Premiums were virtually flat in the previous five to six years as insurers used more of their reserves to help keep a lid on prices.
Numis Securities said the figures were marginally ahead of expectations.
Analyst Nick Johnson added: “Admiral is a high quality earnings story, with its low-cost online model ideally suited to growth in the current market where prices are rising.”
