12th Jul 2021 09:33
(Alliance News) - Admiral Group PLC on Monday said it expects to award its shareholders following a successful sale of its Penguin Portals and strong performance in the first half of 2021.
The Cardiff, Wales-based insurer said it is set to report a higher than expected pretax profit from continuing operations for the six months to the end of June, in the range of GBP450 million to GBP500 million.
For the first half of 2020, Admiral posted pretax profit of GBP286.7 million.
The strong performance was boosted by "unusually positive" development in the UK motor bodily injury claims which has led to higher reserve releases and profit commission revenue.
In addition, the company said the proposed 2021 interim dividend is expected to be in the range of 110 pence to 125p per share, up from 70.5p paid the year before.
In addition, Admiral will make a first distribution in relation to the sale of the Penguin Portals comparison businesses, which was completed on April 30.
At the end of 2020, Admiral had come to an agreement with ZPG Comparison Services Holdings UK Ltd to offload its Penguin Portals and Preminen price comparison sites for a total value of GBP508 million. At the time, the company expected net proceeds of around GBP450 million, with a majority of this to be returned to shareholders but said it will hold back a portion to support new investments.
On Monday, Admiral said it will return GBP400 million to shareholders via special dividends phased over 2021 and 2022.
The company will publish its half-year results on August 11.
Admiral shares were trading 3.5% higher in London on Monday at 3,230.00p each, making it the best performer among the constituents of the FTSE 100 index.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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