esure Group plc

5 May 2016

Delivering on our strategy with strong growth across insurance and price comparison

Interim Management Statement for the three months to 31 March 2016

Highlights

·      Gross written premiums up 15.5% to £151.0m (Q1 2015: £130.7m)

·      In-force policies up 1.7% in the quarter to 2.036m (FY 2015: 2.001m, Q1 2015: 1.971m) 

·      Motor gross written premiums up 17.1% to £128.9m (Q1 2015: £110.1m), with Home gross written premiums up 7.3% to £22.1m (Q1 2015: £20.6m)

·    Motor in-force policies up 1.7% in the quarter to 1.459m (FY 2015: 1.435m, Q1 2015: 1.401m), with Home in-force policies up 1.9% in the quarter to 0.577m  (FY 2015: 0.566m, Q1 2015: 0.570m)  

·      Additional Services Revenues¹ up 4.1% to £25.4m (Q1 2015: £24.4m) broadly in line with year-on-year policy growth

·      Gocompare.com income up 19.0% to £36.3m (Q1 2015: £30.5m)

·      The Group's financial position is strong and it remains well capitalised

Stuart Vann, Chief Executive Officer of esure Group plc, commented:

"We have made an excellent start to 2016 with gross written premium growth of 15.5% to £151.0m and in-force policy growth of 1.7% in the quarter to 2.036m.

"In Motor, gross written premium growth of 17.1% to £128.9m reflects year-on-year policy growth and our positive rating actions. Home gross written premium growth of 7.3% to £22.1m is a good performance as our cross-sell and footprint expansion initiatives continue to build momentum in competitive market conditions.

"Gocompare.com made very good progress in the first quarter with income growth of 19.0% to £36.3m. The new advertising campaigns, largely focused on Money products, are delivering in line with our expectations. We continue to invest in Gocompare.com and we expect to increase Gocompare.com's profit before tax by 20-30% in 2016.

"We are on track to deliver on our guidance for 2016."

For further information:

Notes

1.   Additional Services Revenues includes four main components: (i) sales of underwritten and non-underwritten additional insurance products to motor and home insurance customers; (ii) installment interest on premium payment plans; (iii) policy administration fees; and (iv) legal panel membership fees and fees generated from the appointment of firms used during the claims process, including vehicle repair, car hire and medical suppliers where applicable in the relevant period ("Claims Income"). Additional Services Revenue is stated before the deduction of any internal costs of acquisition or administration. Non-underwritten additional insurance products revenue represents the commission margins for the Group generated from sales of such products. Underwritten Additional Services Revenue is stated after the deduction of claims costs. Additional Services Revenue is a non-IFRS measure which management uses to evaluate Group performance. It may not be comparable with similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Cautionary statement

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Group or industry results to differ materially from any future events, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Persons receiving this announcement should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or accounting standard, esure disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.