Brightside Group, the Bristol-based insurance broker, today forecast record annual results. In a trading update the group reported a solid trading performance at the end of last year and said its annual results will be in line with the expectations set at the time of the E-Systems and eDevelopment acquisitions in November 2011.
Not only will this represent a record year for the group but also a significant increase in reported earnings per share.
Brightside also says it has achieved a strong performance notwithstanding difficult market conditions with a strong balance sheet well supported by operational cashflows.
It adds that while competitive pricing remains a feature of the insurance industry, much of the group strategically operates in niche markets where margins can be more easily maintained. As previously reported, having experienced constraints on insurance underwriting capacity in the second half of 2011, it secured access to significant new capacity and this will help drive sales growth in 2012.
Brightside says it has created a fully integrated specialist insurance broking platform following the acquisitions of Quote Exchange, E-Systems and eDevelopment and this is already being reflected in operational improvement and in increased earnings.
Business highlights include boosting policy sales from 339,916 to 444,189, a rise of 3.9%. Lead generation business was up 41.4% while the medical reporting business increased the number of instructions received from 35,934 to 37,431, an increase of 4.2%. The internal premium finance loan book facility funded £117m of new loans, an increase of 73.4%.
