RSA: More Than sale helps insurance giant to huge profit
Insurance giant RSA has surged back into the black after selling the More Than brand as its revenue jumped by more than £350m.
The London-headquartered group, which dates back over 300 years, has reported a pre-tax profit of £195m for 2024.
The new figure comes after RSA posted a pre-tax loss of £19m in 2023. That loss came after the group achieved a pre-tax profit of £176m in 2022.
The group’s latest annual report also shows that its insurance revenue grew from £3.98bn to £4.34bn over the 12 months.
RSA’s financial results were boosted by its deal to buy the commercial lines broker business software Direct Line Insurance Group in September 2023 and exit the UK personal lines market (motor, home and pet), and the sale of its direct home and pet operations to Admiral Group.
The sale to FTSE 100 member Admiral resulted in a £85m gain for RSA.
RSA in the UK has been owned by Canadian insurer Intact Financial Corporation after it accepted a £7.2bn break-up deal at the end of 2020.
The move saw the group de-list from the London Stock Exchange, where it had been a member of the FTSE 100.
Intact Financial Corporation took on the group’s UK, Canadian and Ireland businesses as well as its continental Europe operations for £3bn while Tryg paid £4.2bn for its Swedish and Norwegian arms.
RSA paid interim dividends of £82m in July 2024 and £100m in November 2024 respectively.
‘Markets remain competitive’ – RSA
A statement signed off by the board said: “The financial results for 2024 reflect the process of repositioning the UK business to commercial and specialty lines insurance and include £164m of integration and restructuring costs.”
On its outlook, RSA said: “We continue to improve the performance and resilience of the business.
“An ongoing focus is to further simplify what we do and to concentrate on areas of strength whilst remaining disciplined and prioritising profitable and sustainable growth.
“We continue to enhance our pricing and segmentation capabilities.
“Markets remain competitive but the group has the right foundation to target sustainable growth in targeted product lines and customer types.”