Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Motor insurance company Sabre Insurance reported an 8% fall in annual profit during what it described as a 'challenging' year characterised by together regulatory, technological and claims management pressures.
The company declared a final dividend but deferred a planned special payout due to uncertainty created by the Covid-19 crisis.
Pre-tax profit for the year through December fell to £56.5m, down from £61.4m on-year.
Gross written premium revenue fell 6.2% to £197.0m.
Sabre Insurance declared total dividends for the year of 12.8p per share, down from 20.0p on-year, when the company had also paid a special dividend of 6.0p per share.
'Against the backdrop of on-going turbulent market conditions and industry headwinds, our commitment to underwriting profitability has helped Sabre to both deliver a robust performance in 2019 and, as importantly, ensured business is adequately priced to support profitability in future years,' chief executive Geoff Carter said.
'We have been assertive in covering high claim and other cost inflation, applying rate increases in excess of 10% during the year.'
'This action has protected our profit margins and will continue as we move through 2020.'
Sabre Insurance said Covid-19 was currently not expected to generate any significant adverse capital strain, but it added that 'unforeseeable challenges could emerge'.
'The board have therefore decided to take a prudent approach to the final dividend and withhold any special dividend until we have greater clarity over the full impact of COVID-19 on the group and the wider economy,' it added.