Results 26 Feb 2014 21:12
Financial highlights
Direct Line Insurance Group plc
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2013
26 February 2014
• Operating profit from ongoing operations1 of £526.5 million for 2013, up 14.2% (2012: £461.2 million); and total Group profit before tax of £423.9 million (2012: £249.1 million)
• Combined operating ratio2 for ongoing operations1 of 96.1% for 2013, an improvement of 3.1 percentage points against 2012 (99.2%), and ahead of the target 98% for 2013
• Combined operating ratio2 for ongoing operations1 in 2013 included higher than expected contribution from prior-year reserve releases of 12.4 percentage points (£435.1 million) compared to 8.7 percentage points in 2012 (£322.0 million)
• Return on tangible equity3 from ongoing operations1 of 16.0% for 2013 (2012: reported 11.5%; pro forma4 2012: 13.4%)
• 5.0% increase in final dividend per share to 8.4 pence per share and second special interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share taking total dividends for 2013 to 20.6 pence per share
• Strong capital position maintained with risk-based capital coverage5 of 148.7% post final and second special interim dividends, towards the upper end of the target range of 125% to 150%