Sabre Insurance gross written premiums fall as it prioritises profitability

(Sharecast News) - Sabre Insurance reported gross written premiums of £66.1m for the first four months of 2025 on Thursday, down from £85.7m in the same period last year, reflecting a deliberate strategy prioritising profitability over volume. The London-listed group noted that the first quarter 2024 was an exceptional period of growth, and emphasised that this year's total still exceeded the five-year average for the period by over 8%.

Core motor vehicle premiums rose 7% compared to the five-year average, despite a tougher pricing environment.

The company highlighted a stable loss ratio and said its post-dividend solvency capital ratio remained well above the 171.1% level reported at year-end, supported by strong profitability to date.

Sabre launched a new direct-to-consumer motorcycle insurance product during the period and reported good progress toward upgrading its pricing infrastructure, with testing scheduled for the second half of the year.

Market pricing trends suggested that the recent decline in premiums had levelled off, with Sabre expecting industry-wide rate increases later in 2025 to counter continued claims inflation, which remains in the high single digits.

The group reiterated its full-year guidance, including an expected undiscounted net insurance margin within its 18% to 22% target range.

Although total premium for the year could show a modest decline, Sabre said it remained on track to deliver strong profitability and maintain dividends, with a longer-term goal of achieving at least £80m in pre-tax profit by 2030.

"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," said chief executive officer Geoff Carter.

"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.

2It 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."

Carter said the company had, however, continued to write healthy levels of business at strong margins and was "very well positioned" to return to growth when pricing inevitably corrected.

"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."

That, Geoff Carter added, remained on-track for testing later in the year, and was 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."

At 1107 BST, shares in Sabre Insurance Group were down 2.67% at 131.98p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.