Sabre Insurance Group PLC Trading Update (5737A)
May 25 2023 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSBRE
RNS Number : 5737A
Sabre Insurance Group PLC
25 May 2023
25 May 2023
Sabre Insurance Group plc
Trading Update
Full year guidance reiterated
Sabre Insurance Group plc (the "Group" or "Sabre"), one of the UK's
leading motor insurance underwriters, today provides an update on
trading for the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 April 2023 ahead
of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") later this morning. Unaudited Unaudited
4 months 4 months ended
ended
30 Apr 2023 30 Apr 2022
----------------------------------- ------------ ---------------
Gross written premium - Motor GBP47.9m GBP45.3m
Gross written premium - Motorcycle GBP6.3m GBP12.0m
Gross written premium - Taxi GBP4.7m GBP2.5m(1)
----------------------------------- ------------ ---------------
Gross written premium - Total GBP58.9m GBP59.8m
----------------------------------- ------------ ---------------
(1) = Disclosed as part of 'Motor' in the May 2022 trading update
Business highlights for the first four months of 2023
* Gross written premium in Motor has increased year on
year, with profitability in line with expectations
and ahead of the same period last year
* Further progress in improving the profitability of
the Motorcycle business with the current run-rate
performance in-line with expectations and anticipated
to deliver a positive contribution to profit in 2023
* Underwriting actions to improve the profitability of
the Taxi business are anticipated to continue through
2023, reflected in current reduced premium run-rate
of this business
* Ongoing focus on profitability, not volume, with
total policy count of 275k as at 30 April 2023 (31
December 2022: 304k) including 54k motorcycle
policies (31 December 2022: 74k) and 14k taxi
policies (31 December 2022: 12k)
* Whilst core Motor policy count declined early in the
year, we have seen a return to growth in policy count
in recent weeks
* Post-dividend solvency capital ratio at 31 March 2023
of 172% (31 March 2022: 160%)
Market trends
* Claims inflation for 2023 anticipated to remain at
c.10%, as previously guided
* Evidence of positive momentum in market pricing since
late March, with this trend anticipated to continue
in the coming months
Full year guidance reiterated
* High single-digit growth in overall gross written
premium anticipated for the full year
* Low double-digit growth in core Motor business gross
written premium somewhat offset by a reduction in the
Motorcycle and Taxi businesses as underwriting
actions take hold
* Combined operating ratio expected to be between 85%
to 90%
* Expected expense ratio strain in H1, and improvements
on loss ratios throughout 2023 as pricing actions
earn through, means H1 combined operating ratio
likely to be higher than the expected 2023 full year
position
* Note that this guidance is carried forward from
year-end on an IFRS4-equivalent basis
Geoff Carter, Chief Executive Officer of Sabre, commented:
"I am pleased to be able to continue my message of cautious optimism
from our full-year results into our first update for 2023, and indeed
I am feeling slightly more optimistic given strong volumes in recent
weeks.
In particular, we have been encouraged by the trends that we have
been seeing from mid-March and into May. There is clear evidence
that market pricing is improving, and we have seen weekly gross written
premiums across this period in our core Motor business over 20% higher
than the same time last year. We anticipate this trend of improving
market pricing will continue, albeit it is too early to tell what
the pace and trajectory of improvement will be, and are confident
in our ability to continue to grow volumes at the appropriate margin.
We are currently in the fortunate position of making pricing decisions
designed to find an optimal point between volume growth and margin
enhancement.
We expect the loss ratios in the core Motor business to improve
through the rest of 2023, with pricing actions reflecting ongoing
inflation. Volumes for the Taxi business have been suppressed while
this market segment remains challenging. The actions we took last
year and this year to increase the profitability of the Motorcycle
businesses should generate a positive contribution to profit.
If these positive market pricing trends and run-rates continue through
the rest of the year, we anticipate a strong bounce-back in earnings
compared to 2022."
Investor enquiries 01306 747 272
Sabre Insurance Group plc
Geoff Carter / Adam Westwood
Media enquiries 020 7353 4200
Teneo sabre@teneo.com
James Macey White / Eleanor
Pomeroy
LEI Code: 2138006RXRQ8P8VKGV98
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