Jefferies upgrades Admiral to 'hold'

(Sharecast News) - Jefferies upgraded Admiral on Thursday to 'hold' from 'underperform' and lifted the price target to 3,025p from 2,300p as it upped its earnings per share forecasts. It said Admiral "materially exceeded" expectations on both growth and margin at the first-half results, leading it to increase its EPS forecasts by 20%/28% for 2024/25.

"Whilst prior underwriting years continue to impact earnings, this has been more than offset by very strong current year underwriting performance, demonstrating Admiral's resilient business model," Jefferies said.

Jefferies said insurance revenue in the first half was 18% higher than it had forecast, driven by very strong turnover growth, while the core motor loss ratio (before reserve releases) also improved significantly to 75% from 87%.

"Given the competitiveness of the UK motor insurance market, Admiral's strong growth combined with strong margin improvement in H1, is particularly impressive in our view," it said.

It added that motor insurance market uncertainty was preventing it from turning more bullish.