Admiral posts record 2024 profit as motor margins improve

By Ryan Hewlett

March 7 - (The Insurer) - Admiral’s share price jumped by almost 4% on Thursday after the personal lines carrier reported a 90% increase in pre-tax profit to a record 839 million pounds ($1.08 billion) for 2024, beating analyst expectations.

The increase in group pre-tax profit was driven by improved motor margins plus a positive impact of 100 million pounds from the Ogden discount rate change, with the result coming in 13.1% ahead of analyst expectations.

Admiral’s UK motor portfolio produced a pre-tax profit of 955.1 million pounds, a 14.5% beat against consensus and the most significant contributor to group result. Profit in UK home insurance rose to 34.1 million pounds while the international unit posted a lower-than-expected loss of 5.3 million pounds.

These figures helped Admiral post a group reported combined ratio of 77.4% for 2024, a year-on-year improvement of 11.3 percentage points and 3.5 points ahead of consensus.

Admiral reported insurance revenue of 4.78 billion pounds in 2024, an increase of 37% on the prior year’s 3.49 billion pounds.

Group turnover rose 28% to 6.15 billion pounds with turnover in UK motor and UK household increasing 33% and 40%, respectively. In contrast, turnover in the international unit reduced by 6%.

Admiral CEO Milena Mondini de Focatiis said the insurer remained “well-positioned” with strong UK margins on recent underwriting years plus high reserve prudence. However, the executive flagged greater competition in the market in 2025.

“As we enter into 2025, the market is softening, and the outlook is uncertain. Our priority is to stay efficient and agile so that we can adapt as needed and deliver long-term growth by building on our strong foundations and talented team,” said Mondini de Focatiis.