Admiral Share Discussion Threads

[imastu pidgitaswell] 09/10/2013 15:51

At the bottom...

:-)


Who knows - the market has doubts about Admiral, whether it is the level of claims cover, the dividend cover, or the accounting, but there is larger than usual short interest, which at times drives it to extremes when compared with its apparent 'fair' level (800p quite recently, with a swift recovery) when compared to earnings or dividend yield. They are not 'trusted' and to be honest I don't know the industry well enough to be absolutely sure they are not a bit fast and loose. The slightly wacky CEO with his loquacious/verbose ramblings in the oeprating view probably don't help...

But they've been at this a long time, and so far the shorts have been wrong. Personally I'd just wait for it stop falling before buying.

So, the bottom it is then...

[garycook] 09/10/2013 15:21

At what level is a good buy?

[imastu pidgitaswell] 09/10/2013 08:55

Aye, watching and waiting....

[trulyscrumptious] 09/10/2013 08:23

Taking a bit of a kicking now, could soon be time to buy again.

[grahamite2] 12/9/2013 14:29

I never gave any thought to this one until I saw it on a list of top yielders.

[trulyscrumptious] 30/8/2013 08:25

I thought this would fall on and after the ex date, not before!

[upthediff] 29/8/2013 10:44

They always pay good divis. :D

[trulyscrumptious] 29/8/2013 09:39

The divi makes this very attractive.

-------------------------------------------

Alastair Lyons, Chairman, said:

"Our policy remains to distribute available surpluses to shareholders,
after taking account of regulatory capital, funds to support our plans
for growth plus a prudent contingency. With a further increase in
profit in the first half of 2013, our interim dividend increases to 48.9
pence per share, which represents 98% of post-tax earnings."

Interim dividend

The interim dividend of 48.9 pence per share will be paid on 11 October
2013. The ex-dividend date is 11 September 2013 and the record date is
13 September 2013. The dividend consists of a normal dividend of 22.5
pence per share and a special dividend of 26.4 pence per share.

[this_is_me] 29/8/2013 07:42

Upbeat results statement.

[upthediff] 29/8/2013 07:17

More Admiral awesomeness today.....great company to work for. ;-)

[liquidkid] 28/8/2013 12:37

With startling financial alchemy they are surely going to pull some bags of gold out of their hat created from their now-not-so-cheap insurance policies

[farmsted] 27/8/2013 09:38

What are you expecting ?

[miata] 25/8/2013 12:48

Interim results on Thursday 29 August 2013.

[deepvalueinvestor] 12/8/2013 07:08

Starting to buy for the first time.

[meorge] 06/8/2013 17:19

Anyone have a view on the steady rise and then rapid fall?

[nicksoj] 03/7/2013 16:49

Eamonn Flanagan (Shore) and other analysts.. showing positive sentiment to Admiral Group over and above its peer Direct Line Group re:expense ratios....


Post online
Analysts warn Direct Line is playing "catch up" on costs base despite 2000 job cuts
Tweet inShare0 Liverpool, London and Croydon offices due to close in expanded cuts programme.

03 Jul 2013 By Mairi MacDonald and Mark Sands 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Direct Line Group is aiming to make deeper cuts to its cost base than previously planned, through a UK‑wide redundancy programme and the closure of three offices including the historic London home of NIG.

Up to 2000 full-time roles will be lost, mainly from head office and support functions. A claims handling centre in Liverpool's Cavern Court will close, with some of the 485 staff being offered new roles at DLG's Manchester office; the remaining office in Croydon will close, with 80 of the 164 jobs transferring to the Bromley-based headquarters; and the Crown House office in London is also closing, with 60 of the 350 jobs moving to Bromley.

In Bromley, 550 of the existing roles are expected to go, while redundancies planned at branches elsewhere include 170 out of 1500 roles in Bristol; 20 out of 700 roles in Doncaster; 140 out of 900 in Glasgow; and 500 out of 3000 roles across three sites in Leeds.

Meanwhile, DLG's Teesside site – earmarked for closure last year – shut its doors on 28 June, with 150 job losses. A further 400 staff have found new roles, either through "redeployment or through other opportunities within the local area", according to a spokeswoman. The firm is also reducing its redundancy payments from the current level of 3.5 weeks per full year of service to two weeks' pay from 2015.

Savings drive
The moves mark the latest stage in a transformation programme unveiled last August when DLG outlined its intention to make £100m of gross annual savings in 2014, which would keep the cost base at the 2011 level of £1.13bn, including £838m for ongoing operations and £296m in claims handling expenses. However, the firm has now lowered its cost base target to £1bn and is targeting gross annual cost savings "more than twice" its previous £100m target.

A DLG spokeswoman told Post the move is the result of the insurer gaining "greater visibility" of its costs. She said: "We have been looking at our processes and digital capability, and how we need to be structured so that we are competitive in an insurer rather than a banking market. We've conducted independent benchmarking, comparing the cost structures and resources of Admiral, Esure and our other main competitors. We are still large and over-resourced with complex processes, as you would expect in a bank. As we gain more autonomy, we will continue to look for more areas of efficiency."

In 2012 Admiral reported operating expenses of £214.6m, which includes £10.8m of claims handling expenses. In 2012 Admiral reported operating expenses of £214.6m, which includes £10.8m of claims handling expenses. Esure reported claims handling costs of £17.3m while insurance expenses and other operating expenses (excluding amortisation of intangibles) amounted to £96.1m and £21.2m, respectively.

However, analysts have cast doubt on the former Royal Bank of Scotland-owned insurer's ability to succeed with its plan. Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said: "DLG is playing catch-up with the likes of Esure and Admiral. If the market stood still it would probably succeed [in aligning its cost base] but it won't, so the fear is DLG will never quite do it." He added DLG was a more efficient business until its costs inflated with its acquisition of Churchill in 2005. "It has effectively taken until now to address some of those issues. Its headcount was too high and there is still further to go," he added.

Another analyst told Post the cuts are likely to improve DLG's 2012 motor expense ratio of 25%, but noted Admiral's figure for UK motor was 13.6%. "These cuts will make a sizeable impact on the expense ratio but Admiral is incredibly low cost," they said, noting Admiral runs fewer call centres and offices, with many based in Wales as opposed to more expensive locations such as the South East of England.

What happened today? Tree shake????

[major clanger] 07/5/2013 20:19

ADM downgraded by JPM:

[this_is_me] 01/5/2013 23:23

XD today - hence the fall.

[qs9] 30/3/2013 10:38

when do these go x div? ta

[imastu pidgitaswell] 19/3/2013 22:12

Thanks Tim, really helpful...

[this_is_me] 19/3/2013 14:03

Share price making steady progress.