Thousands of staff at motor insurer Admiral have been handed bonuses worth £3,600 each as the firm enjoyed record full-year profits.
A total of 10,000 staff were handed the share award under a bonus scheme linked to Admiral’s performance.
CEO David Stevens said: “Mostly happy staff, mostly happy customers, and increased dividends – something for everyone.”
It came as Admiral posted record full-year profits, driven by strong growth in customer numbers. Pre-tax profit at the group rose 18% to £476.2 million in 2018, while turnover increased 11% to £3.28 billion.
Customer numbers were up 14% to 6.51 million and the full-year dividend came in at 126p.
The stellar figures come despite a slowdown in Admiral’s motor division and extreme weather hitting its household arm last year.
The Beast from the East contributed to its household arm recording a full-year loss of £3 million.
Rivals Aviva and Direct Line have warned of trouble ahead if Brexit does not go smoothly and Stevens also had concerns for the year ahead.
He said: “Yes, we delivered record profits and dividends, but we were helped by the UK Government’s decision to unwind partially the change in the Ogden discount rate from a couple of years ago.
“Yes, we grew rapidly pretty much across the board, but growth in the core UK motor business slowed in the second half as we reduced our competitiveness in the face of rising claims costs.
“Yes, our biggest price comparison site, Confused.com, grew both market share and profits, but Compare.com, our US site, struggled as other advertisers upped their spends.”
Other worries include Brexit, and Admiral has established an insurance company in Spain to support its European operations as Britain currently looks set to crash out of the EU without a deal.
Shares were down 3% in morning trade at 2,124p.
