Admiral Group PLC on Thursday reported strong financial performance in the first half with the company increasing its customer base in UK motor insurance.

Admiral shares were up 7.6% to 3,022.33 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

The Cardiff, Wales-based insurer and financial services company said pretax profit jumped 32% to £309.8 million in the half-year that ended June 30 from £233.9 million the previous year.

Insurance revenue rose 38% to £2.21 billion from £1.61 billion, as insurance service expenses increased 18% to £1.70 billion from £1.44 billion. Insurance service result therefore was £237.0 million, up 55% from £152.5 million.

Admiral raised its interim dividend by 39% to 71.0 pence per share, including a 19.7p special dividend, from 51.0p last year.

UK Insurance total premiums written rose 59% to £2.51 billion from £1.58 billion, though International Insurance fell 3.8% to £421.0 million from £437.6 million.

Chief Executive Officer Milena Mondini said: ‘Given our earlier pricing response to inflation in previous years, we have been able to be more competitive in H1 and this helped grow our customer base 12 per cent to 10.5 million. This was driven by a record 5.5 million vehicles on cover in the UK and nearly half a million more customers across other product lines in the UK.’

UK Motor Insurance reported a 60% increase in total premiums written to £2.25 billion from £1.40 billion.

Admiral conducted a review of the current economic and geopolitical climate as part of its approach to risk management.

The review concluded that Admiral’s exposure from recent geopolitical events, including conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, was ‘not material’.

Additionally, falling UK inflation and GDP growth suggests the economy is recovering, although Admiral said it will continue to monitor trends and assess their impact on the business going forward.

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