Admiral Group (LON:ADM) reported a record year for 2025, highlighting higher profits, customer growth, and continued investment in data, technology, and artificial intelligence as executives also laid out an updated strategy framework and a new approach to returning surplus capital to shareholders.
Record profit and customer growth
Management said group profit reached a record GBP 958 million, up 16% year over year, supported by “disciplined execution and growth across the group.” The company’s customer base increased 7%, while group net promoter score was stated as over 50.
CFO Geraint said the group combined ratio was 80%, three points higher than 2024, noting that the Ogden discount rate change accounted for around two points of the difference. He described the underlying change as small, with a slightly improved expense ratio and a slightly higher loss ratio.
U.K. Insurance: U.K. Motor milestone and strength across other lines
In U.K. Insurance, Admiral reported GBP 1.1 billion of profit in 2025, passing the GBP 1 billion milestone for the first time. Management said customer numbers reached 9.6 million, up 9% year over year, with turnover of GBP 5 billion. The company also emphasized customer metrics, stating it remained number one on Trustpilot and achieved an NPS of over 55.
Executives said multi-product ownership continued to be a key growth driver, with 1.6 million customers holding two or more products, up 14% year over year. Management linked multi-product ownership to improved retention, better data for risk selection, and improved expense ratios.
In U.K. Motor, Geraint said customer numbers increased 2% year over year, but turnover fell 7% as average premiums declined after price reductions in the first half and the group maintained a “disciplined approach” in a competitive market. He said the 2025 current year loss ratio was three points higher than 2024 due to lower premiums and continued claims inflation, and also noted less benefit from Ogden in 2025 versus the prior year.
Alistair, who led the U.K. Insurance discussion, described claims frequency as largely flat following a marked decline in 2024, while severity returned to “more normal” mid-single-digit levels. Admiral estimated market average premiums declined by around 10% in 2025, and said market prices were relatively flat at the start of 2026. Admiral said it reduced rates by around half as much as the market in 2025 (with all decreases in the first half), then began increasing premiums with low single-digit increases at the start of 2026.
Outside motor, Admiral said home, travel, and pet were all profitable, with Geraint citing a combined profit of GBP 62 million—nearly triple 2024’s result. Alistair said the group welcomed 650,000 new customers across household, travel, and pet, representing 21% growth, while noting subsidence claims were elevated in the second half. The More Than integration was described as complete, with around 380,000 home and pet customers transferred. Pet reached breakeven three years after launch, and travel grew customers by 29%.
Europe returns to combined profitability
Costi said the European operations delivered a return to combined profitability, reporting a 94% combined ratio and a “significant” improvement of over 10 points year over year. On a whole-account basis, the business delivered EUR 39 million of motor profit, of which EUR 11 million was Admiral’s share.
- Italy: Costi said ConTe.it reached a small profit, representing a EUR 30 million recovery from the prior year, driven by expense actions and deliberate portfolio pruning to prioritize technical margins over volume.
- Spain: Admiral Seguros’ results included about EUR 8 million of one-off accounting impact related to a change in reinsurance structure. Excluding that item, management said Spain was nearing breakeven. New multi-year reinsurance arrangements at a European level are set to take effect in 2026 to improve capital efficiency and stability.
- France: L’olivier delivered what management called a very strong year, with EUR 16 million profit and surpassing half a million customers, alongside double-digit growth in turnover and profit. The household product in France covered over 100,000 risks, up 25% year over year.
Costi also described a strategic shift in Italy and Spain toward a broker proposition focused on higher-margin segments, citing early improvements such as higher income per policy, lower frequency, and lower cost per claim, contributing to a nine-point reduction in the overall loss ratio. He said a common data platform is now operational across the three European countries.
Admiral Money, AI initiatives, and strategic evolution
Geraint said Admiral Money profit doubled versus 2024, supported by balance sheet growth and profit generated from selling back book loans in the first half and selling newly originated loans that do not hit Admiral’s balance sheet. He said credit loss experience remained solid and that results from car finance—relaunched in late 2024—were “encouraging.”
Management emphasized AI and technology initiatives across the group, including the creation of a GenAI Center of Excellence. The company said it was managing more than 150 GenAI initiatives, supporting over 4,000 colleagues, and testing “some agentic models.” Milena also said predictive AI models already delivered over GBP 100 million of incremental loss ratio value, and outlined an expectation of more than GBP 100 million of annual efficiency benefit by 2028, alongside continued investment and automation.
Strategically, Milena said Admiral had delivered its 2020–2025 plan built on diversification, “Admiral 2.0,” and motor evolution. She cited turnover growth of nearly 90% over five years, group profit growth of almost 60%, and GBP 3.2 billion returned to shareholders. She also said more than 50% of customers now come from other lines or geographies, contributing close to GBP 100 million of profit.
Capital returns: buybacks added alongside specials
Admiral announced a new capital distribution approach that adds share buybacks as an alternative to special dividends for returning surplus capital. Geraint said the ordinary dividend remains at 65% of earnings, and that historically about 10% of earnings is retained to fund growth, resulting in an average payout around 90% over the past several years.
The proposed final dividend was 90p per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 205p (over GBP 620 million), up 7% from 2024. Geraint also said the company began purchasing shares in the market for employee share schemes (rather than issuing new shares), with about one million shares bought in Q4 for just over GBP 30 million, and an expectation that trusts will buy around three million shares in 2026.
Looking ahead, management said it expects group profit in 2026 to be “quite flat” versus 2025, citing the impact of the less profitable 2025 underwriting year feeding into results, partially offset by releases and profit commission from 2024 and earlier years, and continued improvement in the newer businesses. Executives also reiterated expectations that U.K. motor market pricing needs to rise, while emphasizing Admiral’s intention to remain disciplined through the cycle.
About Admiral Group (LON:ADM)
Admiral Group plc is an established financial services provider offering motor, household, travel and pet insurance, as well as personal lending products, trading in five countries, namely the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the US. Founded in 1993, Admiral has grown to become an established multinational and multi-product insurer and is proud to be Wales’ only FTSE 100 Company. As the leading personal motor insurance provider in the UK, Admiral continues to focus on technology and agility, diversifying the businesses, and progressing with the evolution of motor.
