Results round-up
Insurer Admiral lifted its interim dividend by almost a quarter as the UK car and home insurance businesses cruised ahead, but profits were short of City forecasts and analysts angsted about a sharp drop in the Solvency II position in the half.
With group turnover of £1.26bn in the six months ending 30 June up 19% on the same period last year, group profit before tax rose 4% to £193m, though this was marginally short of the £191.8m consensus forecast, with earnings per share up by 2% to 55.9p.
The interim dividend was lifted 23% to 62.9p, of which 11.9p is an additional return of capital as a result of its strong solvency ratio.
This was despite the solvency position being hit by market volatility that resulted from the Brexit vote, with the Solvency II coverage ratio collapsing from 206% to 180% by the end of June as a significant reduction in interest rates increased group liabilities, especially in respect of its unstated PPO exposures, and hence reduced its own funds.
On Brexit, though management noted various risks, they do not currently foresee a material adverse impact on day-to-day operations.
The loss ratio fell to 59.5% from 60.8% a year ago and 65.1% for the full year, while the combined ratio slipped to 82.2% from 82.7% a year ago and 85.6% for 2015 as a whole.
FTSE 250 construction group Balfour Beatty surged on Wednesday after saying it has reinstated its dividend and reporting a smaller loss for the half year ended 1 July.
The pre-tax loss for the period narrowed to £21m from £150m the same time a year ago, on revenue of £4.1bn, down a touch from £4.2bn.
The company reinstated it dividend with a 0.9p per share payment in a sign that the turnaround plan under boss Leo Quinn is bearing fruit.
The order book was up 7% at constant exchange rates to £12.4bn.
Chief executive Leo Quinn said: “We are now starting to see tangible benefits from the transformation of Balfour Beatty.
“Eighteen months into the first phase of Build to Last we have delivered our second successive half of underlying profitability and remain on track to achieve our initial targets of £200m cash in: £100m cost out. By concentrating on our selected markets, we are growing our order book within a control environment which ensures that our business decisions lead to sustainable profit and cash growth.”