Swinton Group sells off property as profits and revenue are hit

STIFF competition in the insurance sector has seen profits and revenue of Manchester-based broker Swinton Group take a big hit with increased redundancy and consultancy costs biting.
 
Its 2015 financial results coincide with the news Swinton is move its Manchester headquarters from sites on Whitworth Street and Great Marlborough Street to the whole 10 floors of 101 Embankment, currently being built on the site of the historic Manchester Exchange station in Salford.

The Great Marlborough Street property is to be offered for sale and Swinton told TheBusinessDesk that “discussions are ongoing” with the landlord at Whitworth Street.

Profits were down 26% to £16.1m for the year ended December 31 2015, while revenue tumbled 7% to £265.3m.

Operating profit fell 23% to £19.4m as the reduction in turnover was largely offset by significant costs savings, despite a number of one-off costs.

“These included increased consultancy and redundancy costs together with the reduction in carrying value of internally developed IT systems to reflect the planned implementation of a third party IT platform during 2016,” Swinton’s financial report said.

Its total workforce decreased by 261 to 3,766 during the period as total staffing costs were reduced to £119.8m from £126.5m.

The number of trading and call centres was cut by 33 to 368 as restructuring expenses topped £6.9m.

The company’s directors were paid total of £1.65m including company contributions paid to pension schemes.

Swinton Group offers a range of insurance products from a panel of UK insurers covering car, bike, home, commercial, taxi and caravan insurance, plus services such as breakdown and home emergency cover.

During the year it appointed Gilles Normand as chief executive and promoted Rob Harding – formerly its chief risk officer – to the board as chief financial officer.

Swinton declined to make any further comment on its results when approached by TheBusinessDesk.