Group reports 85% rise in profits and policies reaching 1.4 million
Budget Group has set an ambitious target to grow its premium income organically to £1.25bn by the end of 2010.
It comes after the intermediary announced an 85% rise in pre-tax profits to £22.2m for the year ended 30 June 2006.
For this period, GWP rose 25% on the previous year to £376m, while policies under the group's management increased by 35% to 1.4 million.
Peter Winslow, chief executive of the Budget Group, said growth had exceeded expectations, and Junction, its affinity arm, had been the company's largest expansion area.
"The speed to market, flexibility and portability of Junction's models have seen the number of policies under management double in the past year and Junction is on track to deliver £500m GWP within the next three years," he said.
Junction is expected to supply at least 50% of Budget Group's GWP by 2010, the company said.
Its personal lines and commercial vehicle arm, Budget & Dial, is expected to more than double the number of policies written in the financial year ending June 2007 from 376,000 to 800,000.
"We expect to have two million car, home, motorcycle and commercial vehicle policies under management, and a further 40% increase in GWP by the end of the financial year [June 2007]," Winslow said.
This comes as Budget & Dial ramps up its push into the home market and prepares to pilot commercial SME cover (News, 23 November).
It also follows the sale of Budget Retail to Swinton in August for an undisclosed sum, when 92 Budget offices transferred to Swinton. Winslow said it had taken the intermediary just three months to replace all customers lost during the sale.
