FTSE 100 giant Admiral announces bumper special dividend as profit jumps
FTSE 100 insurance giant Admiral has reported a significant jump in profit for 2024. Earnings per share nearly doubled to 216.6p, up from 111.2p in the previous year, as pre-tax earnings increased by 90 per cent to £839.2m
Turnover rose by 28 per cent to £6.15bn, as insurance revenue grew by 37 per cent to £4.78bn.
The final dividend, which included a normal dividend of 91.4p and a special dividend of 29.6p, will be paid on 13 June 2025.
Admiral’s customer base expanded by 14 per cent in the year to 11.1m. The number of UK insurance customers grew by 19 per cent to 8.8m, while the number of international insurance customers saw a slight decline to 2.1m.
Admiral’s UK Motor division delivered some of its best results on record after several challenging years.
The division reported a 15 per cent increase in customer numbers “driven by reducing prices ahead of the market around the start of the year,” which helped produce a 33 per cent jump in division turnover and 50 per cent rise in insurance revenue.
Overall, Admiral’s flagship UK motor division reported a profit of £955m, 61 per cent higher than 2023. The change in the Ogden discount rate, which is used in setting personal injury compensation, from -0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent, added £100m to the bottom line. Excluding the Ogden change, profit would have been £855m, 44 per cent higher than 2023.
Admiral’s international performance
The star performer within the group’s international division was US arm Elephant Auto, which swung from a loss of £20m to a profit of £14m due to a “much better loss ratio and a very solid expense outcome.”
The group, which has been exploring strategic options for Elephant, said it had “good progress” on evaluating options and is in “exclusive talks with a potential acquirer.”
Meanwhile, Admiral’s Italian business, ConTe recorded a loss of £22.8m. The company said this was down to claims inflation and “some adverse experience, notably from some business written in 2023.”
Milena Mondini de Focatiis told City PM that while ConTe’s 2024 results were disappointing, it “has been a strong part of the business for the last decade,” and after a rough two years “the foundations are very strong.”
“We took the actions we needed to take and we think it’ll continue to be a strong business,” she added.
The international arm reported an overall loss before tax of £5.3m.
Lending business set for growth
Aside from the insurance business, Admiral Money, the group’s rapidly expanding lending business, reported a profit of £13m, up from £10.2m last year. Gross loan balances expanded 23 per cent during 2024 and the division signed its first deal to use 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 PM. “We’re focused on being a great lender for Admiral customers.”
Admiral also said it had largely completed the integration of More Than brand, which it acquired from RSA in March 2024. The results contained £11.9m of integration costs in relation to the acquired business.
Based on the full-year 2024 results, over 13,000 employees received free share awards worth up to £3,600 under the employee share schemes.
Commenting on the results, Milena Mondini de Focatiis said: “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.
“The main driver of our exceptional performance was our UK Motor business. However, it was great to see UK 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.”