Admiral Earnings: Strong Performance on Higher Premiums and Customer Growth

For the first half of 2024, we think Admiral has reported very good results. The business' total customer numbers have grown by 8.2% since the end of last year to 10.5 million. A lot of that growth has been driven by the UK motor business. The combination of higher customer numbers and rise in premiums the business established over the last few years has resulted in an over 30% rise in insurance revenue, and a similar rise in profit before tax. That profit before tax performance of GBP 309.8 million over the interim places the business well against our GBP 496.3 million full-year forecast. Along with the GBX 77.50 of earnings per share, Admiral has declared a GBX 71.00 per share dividend, made up of 65% of pretax profit, plus a special dividend of GBX 19.70 per share. Return on equity has risen from 39% to 45% half on half. We maintain our GBP 30.70 per share fair value and our narrow economic moat.