Admiral sees revenues rise 18pc to £1.1bn
INSURANCE group Admiral has seen record growth after breaking the £1bn revenue barrier at the same time as posting double-digit growth in UK profits.
Income for 2009 reached £1.07bn, marking an 18 per cent increase from 2008 when turnover came in at £910m.
Chief executive Henry Engelhardt said the group’s results were driven by the UK, which has seen a 17 per cent increase in car insurance customers during the course of 2009.
He said that the UK was the engine driving the business forward, calling the year an outstanding achievement in light of the recession.
Admiral’s UK profit growth was largely due to strong results in its car insurance business, which saw a 15 per cent hike in 2009 profits to £207m from £180m in 2008.
Joy Ferneyhough, analyst at Execution Noble, said: “Although a strong set of numbers, Admiral’s stellar price performance in recent months and close to all-time peak valuation means that these results needed to be almost perfect in order to drive any further significant performance.”
Operations outside of the UK also intensified after customer numbers reached 120,000 across Spain, Germany, Italy and the US.
The international business contributed £47m in turnover during the year, with the group launching two new price comparison sites.