Admiral Group’s (LON: ADM) shares rose over 5% this morning as the car insurer revealed a jump in first-half profits.
Pre-tax profits for the six months of 2020 grew by 30% to £286.7m, helped by a fall in motor insurance claims as people stayed at home over lockdown.
The board has set an interim dividend of 70.5p per share – higher than the 2019 interim dividend of 63p.
Over the course of the pandemic, the group paid customers a £25 ‘stay at home’ rebate, costing the group £110m.
Admiral’s chief executive, David Stevens, said on the results: “Our response to that pandemic highlighted two of Admiral’s key strengths – competent execution in the short term and sustainable values for the long term.”
“We adapted quickly to the new circumstances, pirouetting from one working model to another and compressing years of learning and development into a matter of weeks through a phenomenal collective effort across the company at all levels. Alongside this adaptability, we also stayed true to our long-term commitment to balanced outcomes for all our stakeholders, notably through our £25 a vehicle ‘Stay at Home’ rebate.”
“This year’s interims benefit again from our consistently competent underwriting and conservative reserving on past years, feeding into another strong set of results in the core business and beyond. Thank you to all our staff, shareholders and customers who have made this possible.”