Cavan-based insurance company, Quinn Direct, has reported a 52 per cent surge in profits from €153 million to €232 million in 2005 on the back of increased business and substantial investment gains.
The company, which is part of the Quinn Group and was founded in 1996, said it more than doubled its customer base to 350,000 last year. Quinn Direct general manager, Colin Morgan, said the company remains very confident that it can continue to grow its share of the market and its profits again this year.
Operating profits rose from €109 million to €119 million while premium income increased by 31 per cent to €621 million.
A €100 million dividend was paid to the Quinn Group from its 2005 profits.
The Quinn Group, which also includes a life company and cement and hotel businesses, posted a €325 million pre-tax profit in 2005, reporting a turnover of €1.3 billion.
Mr Morgan said that premium income rose across all of its business lines in Ireland and claimed to be the top three player in motor and commercial liability.
Some 60 per cent of its premium income came from motorists and 40 per cent from its commercial customers. About 16 per cent of the company's total premium income came from its UK business, which started in 2004, Mr Morgan said.
Quinn Direct said that it was particularly pleased with the progress it has made in further developing its presence in the UK. Mr Morgan said that as a new entrant to the UK market it has adopted a prudent approach to calculating claims reserves and said it was very happy with the prospects for that business.
The company's underwriting margin in the UK had reduced in the period, as a result of price reductions and increased levels of business being written in the UK. About 60,000 of Quinn Direct's new customers last year came from its UK operations.
In 2005 Quinn Direct reduced its premium rates by between 10 and 15 per cent. It expects to cut its premium rates again this year, although the decline will be of the order of less than 10 per cent, according to Mr Morgan.
The company's fortunes were significantly boosted by an exceptionally strong investment performance in 2005 with investment gains up from €44 million to €113 million. Mr Morgan said it regards these gains as being above normal and expects they will return to more normal levels over the coming years.
Mr Morgan said the company had concerns about certain anti-competitive practices that it believed were prevalent in the Irish insurance market.
It stated that three of the Republic's largest brokers, Marsh, Coyle Hamilton Willis and AON, do not offer its products. "We don't want to come across as angry but we would like the public to know that if they are getting a quote from one of these brokers they are not including a quote from Quinn Direct."
