Admiral vehicle count rises 3 percent in third quarter

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - British motor insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) Plc : said the number of vehicles on its books increased 3 percent in the third quarter of 2013.

In a trading statement on Monday, Admiral's Chief Executive Henry Engelhardt said the group vehicle count of 3.64 million was lifted by expansion outside its core UK market.

The international vehicle count rose by nearly a fifth to 500,000.

Admiral has eased off efforts to increase business volumes in the UK on account of falling motor insurance premiums, focusing instead on boosting profitability.

Group turnover decreased by 7 percent to 528 million pounds in the third quarter compared with a year earlier.

"Market premiums are down, a situation which we believe will ultimately cause the cycle to turn," Engelhardt said.

"The current environment has led us to reduce UK turnover, but encouraging trends in our claims experience and our industry-leading combined ratio means that we continue to deliver strong returns."