Direct Line Shares Plunged 8.6% on £45M FY22 Loss. What Next?

The Direct Line Insurance Group PLC (LON: DLG) share price plunged 8.56% after releasing the preliminary results for the 2022 financial year. The insurance group reported a 94.6% decline in operating profits to £32.1 million from £590.3 million in 2021.

Investors’ adverse reaction was expected after the company admitted that it should have done more to protect its margins by raising prices than it did to compensate for the record-high inflation in the UK that ballooned the value of claims paid out.

Direct Line reassured investors that it was taking measures to restore its earnings and boost its solvency ratio, which fell to 147% at the end of 2022 from 160% in 2021. The company reported a net loss of £45 million in 2022 from a net profit of £446 million last year. 

The company attributed its poor performance to bad weather conditions, leading to its weather-related claims rising to £149 million, way above its budget estimates of £73 million. 

Direct Line revealed that the December freeze cost £95 million in payouts as prolonged sub-zero temperatures spread across North West England and Scotland. As a result, the company grew gross written premiums by 14.7% at a lower operating ratio than in 2021. 

As explained in its January operations update, the insurance company did not declare a final dividend for the year. Hence, investors must make do with the 7.6p interim dividend paid out earlier in 2022. 

Direct Line expects its 2023 to be negatively impacted by higher motor vehicle claims driven by the claims underwritten in 2022 and early 2023. However, the group has an optimistic outlook for the year based on its fundamentally strong business and actions taken to improve its vital business metrics. 

Jon Greenwood, Acting Ceo of Direct Line Group, commented: “2022 was a tough year for Direct Line Group. Motor and Home market conditions were challenging, with high claims inflation and regulatory reforms creating substantial headwinds for the business, and we did not navigate these challenges as effectively as we would have wished. Exceptional weather and difficult investment markets also significantly impacted our results. Motor, in particular, was affected by high claims inflation, which remained ahead of our expectations throughout the year, as well as the impact of regulatory changes.”

*This is not investment advice. 

Direct Line share price. 

The Direct Line share price plunged 8.56% to trade at 154.45p, from Friday’s closing price of 168.90p.