Admiral appoints Geraint Jones as new CFO
The owner of confused.com has announced the appointment of Geraint Jones as group chief financial officer (CFO) and executive director of Admiral Group, with effect from 13 August.
Geraint, who has been with Admiral since 2002, will take over from Kevin Chidwick who will now focus on his US role as CEO of Elephant Auto Insurance.
Admiral reported a minor increase in profit before tax of one per cent to £183.3m for the six months ended 30 June. Analysts had forecast a slight decline in profits thanks to lower car insurance premiums.
UK car insurance pre-tax profits were up eight per cent to £207.7m and earnings per share climbed five per cent to 52.7p. The insurer's expectations for 2014 UK business remain unchanged.
However, encouraged by early indicators, Admiral plans to up its marketing investment in comaparenow.com.
Henry Engelhardt, chief executive officer, commented:
"In the UK, there are some signs that premiums are no longer falling but we have yet to see firm evidence of an inflection point and a return to premium growth.
"Admiral's premium rates have been pretty flat over the first half of the year, though as a result of the reductions in 2013, total premiums are down around nine per cent compared with the first half of 2013. Thanks to improved retention levels, we now insure over 130,000 more customers in the UK than at this time last year."