Brightside profit up 40%

eCar will not hit its full stride until 2012

Broking group Brightside made an after-tax profit from continuing operations of £6.5m in 2010, up 40% on the £4.7m it made in 2009.

Brightside’s profit before tax increased 51% to £10.1m (2009: £6.7m) while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items increased 39% to £13.5m (2009: £9.7m).

The broker’s 2010 revenue increased 48% to £66.2m from £44.7m on the back of a 63% increase in total policy sales to 339,916 (2009: 207,509). Post acquisition policy sales at the eCar and eBike divisions, which Brightside bought last June, were 79,252 and 21,483 respectively.

"In 2010 Brightside enjoyed another year of strong growth,” said Brightside chief executive Paul Chase-Gardener in a statement. "The combination of strong organic growth of our existing insurance broking businesses, the successful acquisition and integration of the eCar and eBike policy books and the continued growth of our premium finance, medical reporting and lead generation businesses mean that 2010 was once again a record year for the group.”

He added that continued focus on the development of Brightside’s distribution channels in a hardening motor insurance market had resulted in an “encouraging” start to 2011.

"The board of Brightside views the prospects for 2011 with confidence," he said.

Despite the progress made at eCar, which has moved from a single insurer to a multi-insurer panel model post acquisition, Brightside does not expect that its full benefit will be reflected in results until 2012 at the earliest, when the panel has been in operation for a full renewals cycle.

Brightside 2010 highlights in £m (compared with 2009)