Admiral reveals 22% hike in premium rates
Diamond and Elephant.co.uk car insurer Admiral revealed a 22% hike in premium rates today, as it reports a leap in profits during the fist half of the year.
Admiral: a 23% increase in customers has helped increase profits
The Cardiff-based group said the cost of car insurance soared year-on-year in line with the wider market as the industry battles against a rising trend for injury claims.
Admiral's rate increase, combined with a 23% rise in customer numbers helped drive interim pre-tax profits up 21% to £126.9m in just the first six months of the year.
This haul means that 4,000 staff will share more than £6m of free shares – giving each employee a windfall of around £1,500
Admiral's price comparison website Confused.com lost out to rivals in the first half as its television advertising campaign failed to draw in customers.
The group blamed a 35% plunge in half-year earnings at Confused.com on the unsuccessful TV ads, in a market that depends heavily on marketing.
Competitors have fared better with campaigns in recent months, with moneysupermarket recently thanking its 'haggle hero' series featuring comedian Omid Djalili for a 5% lift in half-year revenues.
Admiral admitted its Confused.com offering had slipped from first place in the market for car insurance websites to second position after a difficult six months.
But it said the group responded quickly, pulling back on current ads ahead of a new campaign that will roll out in the next six months, as well as cutting costs at the online operation.
A good performance across the wider Admiral group offset troubles at Confused.com, with UK total written premiums up 37% to £556m, while non-UK business also increased.
Revenues outside the UK increased 51% to £37.1m and customer numbers lifted by 53% to 154,100.
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