Ardonagh boosts income and adjusted ebitda during 2023

A mix of organic growth and deals saw Ardonagh boost its income and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items (ebitda) in 2023.

In a trading update today (28 March 2024), the broker said it saw an income of $1.99bn (£1.59bn) in the 12 months to December 2023, up from $1.54bn (£1.23bn) the previous year.

Its adjusted ebitda also grew 33.6% to $649.6m (£519.6m).

Ardonagh said this was partly driven by 11% organic growth and continued delivery of synergy initiatives.

What also contributed was increased inorganic growth activity, with 67 deals being completed in 2023.

Ardonagh revealed that over 80% of merger and acquisition (M&A) investments were made in Europe and Australia.

Group chief executive David Ross said: “These results reflect a very strong year for our group as we stepped up the pace of our focused global expansion and continue to benefit from investment in organic initiatives.

“We spent the first five years as a group investing in assets that can themselves make add-on acquisitions and harness the opportunities that come with being proudly part of a portfolio of independent specialists with powerful scale.”

Markerstudy

During 2023, Ardonagh also announced that it was selling its personal lines broking business Atlanta to Markerstudy in a deal that would create a “major new platform” in the personal lines market.

This will provide a range of insurance products to consumers, including home and motor insurance, and will employ around 7,300 people across the UK.

The proposed £1.2bn merger has now been given the greenlight by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Ardonagh said that when removing its retail unit from the equation, reported income rose to $1.6bn (£1.28bn), while adjusted ebitda grew to $522m.