Earnings slide despite strong growth at Swinton
MANCHESTER-based insurance broker Swinton Group saw its net income increase by 29.4% last year to £263.2m following a string of 33 acquisitions, although its pre-tax profits fell by a quarter to £36.4m.
The company blamed “challenging market conditions” and a general lack of consumer confidence for the decline in profits. It also said its costs had increased as a result of its acquisition and reorganisation of the Northern Irish broker Equity Insurance, which brought 91 new branches into the Swinton network.
In total, the number of branches increased by 116 to 603, and the number of live policies jumped 31% to 603. Headcount also grew as a result of the acquisitions by 271 to 3,654.
Peter Halpin, Swinton’s chief executive, said: “While there are undoubtedly tough economic conditions impacting on consumer and business spending, once again we have shown we are able develop the growth of the Swinton business by expanding our market share.
“Adding 1m extra policies in 2009 is an impressive demonstration of our growth-through-investment plan, which we will continue through both strategic acquisitions and organic growth over the next five years.
The company, which is owned by French insurance giant MMA Iard Assurance Mutuelles, said that its policy of maintaining and expanding its branch network while others retreated to online trading had engendered brand loyalty both among its employees and its customer base.
“Our significant investment in both on and off-line channels will continue into 2011 and beyond, and what this means is that customers will always be able to pick up the phone and discuss their insurance matters with our advisers,” said Halpin.
