Admiral, the FTSE 100 insurance heavyweight, has reported a substantial rise in profits for 2024. The company's earnings per share have almost doubled to 216.6p from 111.2p in the previous year, with pre-tax earnings surging by 90% to £839.2m.
Turnover increased by 28% to £6.15bn, while insurance revenue saw a 37% growth to £4.78bn. In light of these robust figures, Admiral's board has proposed a final dividend of 121.0p per share, culminating in a total annual dividend of 192.0p, marking an 86% increase from 2023, as reported by .
The final dividend, comprising a normal dividend of 91.4p and a special dividend of 29.6p, is scheduled for payment on 13 June 2025. The insurer's customer base grew by 14% over the year, reaching 11.1 million.
º£½ÇÊÓƵ insurance customers rose by 19% to 8.8 million, although international insurance customers dipped slightly to 2.1 million.
Admiral's º£½ÇÊÓƵ Motor division reported some of its strongest results ever after several challenging years, with a 15% rise in customer numbers "driven by reducing prices ahead of the market around the start of the year," leading to a 33% increase in division turnover and a 50% boost in insurance revenue.
Admiral's flagship º£½ÇÊÓƵ motor division has reported a profit of £955m, marking a 61% increase from 2023. The change in the Ogden discount rate, used to determine personal injury compensation, from -0.25% to 0.5%, contributed an additional £100m to the bottom line.
Without this adjustment, the profit would have been £855m, still a 44% rise from 2023.
Admiral's international performance
The standout performer within Admiral's international division was its US subsidiary, Elephant Auto, which turned a loss of £20m into a profit of £14m due to a significantly improved loss ratio and a solid expense outcome.
The group, currently exploring strategic options for Elephant, reported good progress in evaluating these options and is now in exclusive discussions with a potential buyer.
However, Admiral's Italian operation, ConTe, recorded a loss of £22.8m, attributed to claims inflation and some adverse experience, particularly from business written in 2023.
Milena Mondini de Focatiis told City AM that despite disappointing results for ConTe in 2024, it "has been a strong part of the business for the last decade," and after a challenging two years, "the foundations are very strong."
She added: "We took the actions we needed to take and we think it'll continue to be a strong business,".
Overall, the international arm reported a pre-tax loss of £5.3m.
Lending business set for growth
Admiral Money, the burgeoning lending arm of the group, has reported a profit surge to £13m from last year's £10.2m. The division saw gross loan balances increase by 23% throughout 2024 and entered into its inaugural agreement to utilise third-party capital in early 2025.
"Admiral Money continued to grow very nicely; it's a business in which we have high expectations for the future," Milena Mondini de Focatiis told City AM. "We're focused on being a great lender for Admiral customers."
The company also confirmed the near completion of integrating the More Than brand, acquired from RSA in March 2024, with integration costs amounting to £11.9m.
Reflecting on the robust full-year 2024 results, over 13,000 staff members were awarded free shares valued at up to £3,600 as part of the employee share schemes.
Milena Mondini de Focatiis commented on the year's performance: "2024 was a remarkable year. We delivered an excellent result with a 28 per cent increase in turnover and 90 per cent increase in profit as we welcomed an additional 1.4m customers to the group."
She added, "The main driver of our exceptional performance was our º£½ÇÊÓƵ Motor business. However, it was great to see º£½ÇÊÓƵ Household, Admiral Money, and our French and US Motor businesses all report a double-digit profit."
"We were excited to be building on the synergies within our businesses and products. We recognised that there was more that we could do to meet even more of the needs of our growing customer base. We continued to focus on being a great choice for customers by leveraging our expertise in pricing, claims management and underwriting, and making continuous improvements in our service."
"Thanks to our incredible colleagues, we achieved so much this year and rewarded them with an additional bonus for their commitment."
"As we entered into 2025, the market softened, and the outlook remained uncertain. Our priority was to stay efficient and agile so that we could adapt as needed and deliver long-term growth by building on our strong foundations and talented team."
