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21 May 2026 07:00
Sabre Insurance Group plc Trading Update Return to growth in premium, continued focus on pricing discipline Full-year guidance reiterated; Ambition 2030 on track | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sabre Insurance Group plc (the "Group" or "Sabre"), one of the UK's leading motor insurance underwriters, today provides an update on trading for the period from 1 January 2026 to 30 April 2026 ahead of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") later this morning.
Business highlights for the first four months of 2026 ‒ Total gross written premium up over 15%, with Motor Vehicle gross written premium over 18% up on the same period in 2025 ‒ Motorcycle premium up c.48% year-on-year reflecting the continued roll-out of our "Sabre Direct" product, while lower Taxi premium reflects continued unattractive market conditions ‒ Increased competitiveness due to revision of forward-looking claims inflation assumptions towards the end of 2025, against a backdrop of stabilising market prices ‒ Level of premium growth for the rest of the year will be influenced by market pricing dynamics as we continue to exercise pricing discipline to cover claims inflation ‒ Post-dividend solvency capital ratio remains strong, reflecting continued organic capital generation ‒ Ambition 2030 initiatives progressing. Testing of new pricing initiatives continues successfully, as does the roll-out of the "Sabre Direct" motorcycle product Market trends ‒ Evidence of market prices having stabilised, with some recent signs of increases ‒ Claims inflation remains at mid-single digits; however we will continue to monitor potential short- and longer-term cost pressures resulting from geopolitical developments Full-year guidance reiterated ‒ Reiterate guidance given at full-year 2026 results: ‒ Continue to expect year-on-year growth in Gross Written Premium. The rate of growth will be influenced by how quickly the wider market moves to cover claims inflation ‒ Continue to anticipate profit slightly ahead of 2025 underpinned by sustained pricing discipline during ongoing competitive market conditions ‒ Expect strong undiscounted net insurance margins in 2026, within our target 18% to 22% range ‒ Ambition 2030 remains on track. In-line with our planned timetable, testing will continue this year with modest impact on 2026 as our initiatives start to take effect with more significant impacts from 2027 onwards
Geoff Carter, Chief Executive Officer of Sabre, commented: "2026 has got off to a strong start for Sabre, with gross written premium materially ahead of last year despite conditions remaining competitive in our target markets. As reported in our recent full-year results presentation, we were able to enhance our competitiveness towards the end of 2025 following evidence-based revisions to our forward-looking claims inflation assumptions. This has driven growth this year whilst maintaining our written margins within our target range. This has underlined our confidence in our ability to grow this year. We still see claims cost inflation at mid-single digits but are mindful of the potential impact of geopolitical developments. We continue to cover identifiable drivers of claims inflation and will not hesitate to increase prices if required to address any additional emerging inflation risks. We have continued to progress our Ambition 2030 initiatives. We have expanded our Sabre Direct motorcycle product as we have increased our confidence in its underlying profitability and have continued testing of our differentiated pricing approach within Motor Vehicle. As we have previously reported, we do not expect an immediate significant impact on income from these initiatives as we test, learn and evaluate, in order to prioritise maintaining overall profitability. We remain confident in our outlook for 2026 and reiterate that we expect to grow topline premium and deliver a strong profit for 2026, slightly above that in 2025. This will put us on a strong footing for the future enabling us to deliver good capital returns to our shareholder. I would like to thank all our employees for their continued hard work and dedication."
LEI Code: 2138006RXRQ8P8VKGV98 |
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