Re-branded loss adjuster AMG sees turnover up 33%
Merlin Professional Claims Services has reported a 33% increase in turnover and 64% increase in profit for the financial year 2007/2008,
The results come six months after the appointment of a new chief executive and new chief financial officer, and re-branding of the former AMG, CGS and Sigma businesses.
Turnover grew from £49 million to £65.5 million in the year 2007/2008, and profits rose from £2.07 million to £3.4 million over the same period.The company said this was due to increased workload from the floods and market share gains.
Merlin repaid £1.1 million of its senior bank debt, and continuing strong cash flow since the results were finalised enabled a further £2.2 million to be repaid in July 2008.
Richard Webster, chief executive of Merlin, said the results were due to a talented workforce, and the ability to embrace new technologies and procedures.
“As a group we are committed to delivering long-term value to our clients and their customers and are actively seeking opportunities to bring new people into the company with the talent and skill to make a positive contribution.
“We have seen an improvement in profitability and growth in all our loss adjusting divisions and also other divisions such as Repair and Restoration and Surveying.”
The last 12 months has seen a period of significant change, starting with the acquisition of Carr Greenwood Smith (CGS) and the subsequent appointment of Richard Webster as CEO and Keith Broom as CFO.
A major strategic re-evaluation of the business merged CGS with AMG and Sigma Claims Solutions to become Merlin Professional Claims Services.
“We are committed to developing all of the divisions within our business,” Webster said. "We have the most integrated and developed Repair and Restoration service in the industry, which played a significant part in our success during the 2007 floods. Other areas of our business including household and commercial and complex loss adjusting continue to flourish with some excellent new business wins and our liability division is developing strongly again under the leadership of Chris Wilshere and his team."
Merlin said its mission was to deliver a total solution for household, commercial and complex, and liability claims, with products that catered for the full range of claims services demanded by the insurance industry. These range from core loss adjusting-led services through to fully delegated outsourced claims management, and restoration and repair solutions. It aims to manage every stage in the lifecycle of a claim, from the simple to the highly complex, and exceed customer expectations.
“Our focus is on the ‘total’ cost of claims; we believe that managing and controlling indemnity spend in parallel with a first-class service is central to our business philosophy,” Webster said. “To this end we have clear benchmarks within the business to continually challenge indemnity spend, and reduce costs associated with leakage and fraud.
