Home cover helps Kwik-Fit

Home and travel insurance internet sales helped Kwik Fit Insurance up its turnover by 10% £64.2m last year, but pre-tax profit fell 5% to £8.8m, the Scotsman reports.

When a 2007 special item was removed, Kwik Fit’s underlying profit rose by 7%. Operating profits were up 11.6% to £12.2m.

Brendan Devine, managing director, said: "We've had a very good year in an increasingly-competitive market. We have also made a great start to 2009 with month-on-month growth of sales since December 2008, including a record sales day in July."

Motor book down

"The motor book declined by 3% in the year. This was obviously disappointing but, the board believes that this was an acceptable result given the highly competitive nature of pricing in the market.

"The company grew its household book by 18%, mostly driven by the internet channel.

"The proportion of revenue derived from other non-motor insurance policies grew by 29% during 2008 and the company once again continued to improve on its record of additional product sales."