Motor insurer Sabre unveils special dividend in first annual results since listing
Specialist motor insurer Sabre declared a special dividend today in its first full-year results since listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The insurer wrote £210m of premiums last year, a slight drop on the previous year which it said was a result of focusing on underwriting profitability over growth.
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Its profit before tax of £61m undershot the consensus estimate of £63m.
Sabre's combined operating ratio, a measure of insurance profitability, increased slightly to 70.6 per cent from 68.5 per cent last year.
Sabre declared a final ordinary dividend of 6.8p and a special dividend of 6p.
Chief executive of Sabre, Geoff Carter, said: “Against the backdrop of what have been competitive underlying market conditions during the year, we have stuck to our core principle of focusing on underwriting profitability over volume growth. This has ensured that we maintained our market-leading underwriting performance, with a combined operating ratio better than our target, and continued to deliver strong organic capital generation.”
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Peel Hunt analysts said: “Sabre will continue to generate excess capital in 2019 from a position of strength and is well prepared to manage the UK motor underwriting cycle.”
Looking ahead Carter said: “There remains uncertainty around the market dynamics, but we will continue to take a prudent approach to monitoring and responding to potential changes and trends in our industry, taking pricing action only when speculation and opinion becomes fact.”
Shares fell 2.3 per cent to 292p.