Admiral Group (LON:ADM) saw shares rise over 5 percent at market open on Wednesday, after profits rose 45 percent over the course of 2017.

Pre-tax profits hit £403.5 million in the twelve months to the end of December, with both earnings per share and return on equity increasing by 49 percent and 55 percent respectively.

The insurance group’s car business rose by 8 percent to £3.96 million, with turnover up 15 percent to £2.96 billion and customer numbers up 11 percent to over 5.7 million.

However the group warned on the year ahead, saying that despite the strong performance in the division in 2017 “there is still a backdrop of uncertainty in our [UK car business] due to the continued deliberations over the Ogden rate affecting large personal injury claims.”

David Stevens, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: ‘It’s 25 years since the launch of Admiral. 2016 was only the second year we’d ever reported a year on year fall in profits. So it’s great to be back in the groove, with a 23rd year of “record profits”.’

Shares in Admiral are currently up 5.85 percent at 2,044.00 (0822GMT).