Sabre Insurance Group Regulatory News (SBRE)

Sabre Insurance Group plc

Trading Update

Active optimisation of premium growth and profit through the cycle

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 2025 to 30 April 2025 ahead of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") later this morning.

Business highlights for the first four months of 2025

‒ Good premium volume being written in the first four months of the year against historic norms

‒ Total gross written premium of £66.1m up over 8% on the prior 5-year average of £61.0m for the same period. Core Motor Vehicle gross written premium of £58.1m over 7% up on the prior 5-year average of £54.2m for the same period

‒ Comparator period in Q1 2024 was a period of extraordinary growth

‒ Long-term commitment to profit over volume underpins our approach to managing Sabre through the cycle

‒ Loss ratio remains in-line with target

‒ Post-dividend solvency capital ratio well above the Group's last reported figure of 171.1% at 31 December 2024 reflecting strong profitability year-to-date

‒ Successful launch of Sabre Direct Motorcycle product, expanding distribution and strengthening our presence in the Motorcycle market

‒ Good progress towards enhanced pricing infrastructure with testing planned for H2 2025

Market trends

‒ Market pricing data suggests that decreases have flattened across the Motor Vehicle market

‒ Anticipate market premium increases later in 2025 in response to 12-month market price reductions of c.15%, set against continued high levels of inflation

‒ Claims inflation for 2025 anticipated to remain at high single-digits as previously guided

Full-year guidance reiterated

‒ Outlook for the full-year and delivering on our 2030 targets is underpinned by a commitment to profit over volume

‒ Anticipate good profit and dividends in 2025 despite weak market conditions in the year to date

‒ Undiscounted net insurance margin expected to be within our target 18% to 22% range

‒ Premium growth for the remainder of 2025 dependent on market conditions. Current expectation of a slight decrease in total premium year-on-year

‒ On-track to deliver our target of at least £80m of profit before tax in 2030

Geoff Carter, Chief Executive Officer of Sabre, commented:

"I am pleased that Sabre remains on track to deliver target margins and strong profit for the year, despite the relatively weak pricing environment that we have seen in 2025 to date. We have managed the insurance cycle in line with our successful long-term strategy and have reduced the volume of business written during this less attractive period. It is worth noting that our reported premium for this period compares the peak of the previous cycle against the weakest part of the current pricing cycle.

We have, however, continued to write healthy levels of business at strong margins and are very well positioned to return to growth when pricing inevitably corrects. Maintaining pricing discipline means that we are confident of delivering strong profitability and a good dividend this year.

The Sabre Direct Motorcycle product has now launched, thanks to a terrific effort by our team. We are currently writing a limited amount of premium as we move through our initial "test and learn" phase.

We have also progressed development of our enhanced pricing infrastructure, which is integral to the next stage of our Ambition 2030 plan. This remains on-track for testing later this year and is expected to begin positively impacting the top-line later, in 2026.

Overall, the Group is performing well through this current period of market weakness and will be in a position of strength, ready to grow the core motor book, and accelerate the development of our motorcycle product. We remain on-track to deliver our target of at least £80m of profit before tax in 2030".

LEI Code: 2138006RXRQ8P8VKGV98