FBD Holdings plc reported a pre-tax profit of €81m for 2023, up from €65.8m the previous year. This was achieved following a 5.6% increase in insurance revenue to €401m and a 2.6% increase in the number of policies written.

The company announced that it would pay a dividend of €1/share, unchanged from last year, and that it would buyback €4m of its own shares from the stock market. That purchase was completed on Monday, 11 March, at a price of €12.65/share.

FBD CEO Tomás Ó Midheach told the Irish Farmers Journalthat the company’s Solvency Capital Ratio (SCR) – a key regulatory measure of the financial health of an insurance company – remained well in excess of requirements, and that the insurer could look to return more money to shareholders, depending on how the year progresses.

The SCR ended the year at 213%, down from 226% the previous year, with the decline coming in the wake of a special dividend payment last year.

Ó Midheach said that he would like to see the ratio closer to 170%, implying another special dividend to shareholders is on the cards for this year.

Looking at where the profit for the year came from, FBD said that its insurance revenue was primarily driven by farmer and business customers. Farm multi-peril average premiums increased by 10.8%, while the average tractor premium increased by 9.1%, which FBD said was due to a higher proportion of newer tractors and increasing value of existing tractors.

Private motor insurance premiums rose 2.9%, partly due to the higher costs associated with repair and replacement of advanced technology on newer vehicles. Kate Tobin, FBD CFO, said that there are fewer crashes with modern vehicles due to the number of safety features they have, but the cost of repair when crashes do happen is much higher.

The insurer has made significant progress on gender representation in middle and senior management roles, with the percent of female middle managers rising from 26% in 2022 to 52% in 2023, and the number of female senior managers rising from 39% to 48%.

Ó Midheach’s total remuneration rose by 7% to €1,156,000 in 2023, with €544,000 of that in the form of an annual bonus.

FBD will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday, 9 May.