By Richa Naidu
LONDON (Reuters) - British motor insurer Admiral Group Plc (L:ADML) posted a 2 percent rise in first-half profit and promoted Geraint Jones to chief financial officer with immediate effect.
Jones, who has been deputy CFO since January 2012, replaces Kevin Chidwick who now plans to focus on his role as CEO of Admiral's Elephant Auto Insurance business in the United States.
The company's adjusted pretax profit increased to 184.9 million pounds for the first-half ended June, helped by a 9 percent increase in customer numbers and 26 percent less claims at its core UK car insurance unit.
Admiral said its total combined ratio had reduced to 76.8 percent from 81.1 percent last year. A ratio below 100 percent means an insurer earns more in premiums than it pays out in claims.
Total UK motor premiums written fell about 9 percent to 776 million pounds during the period.
"In the UK there are some signs that premiums are no longer falling but we have yet to see firm evidence of an inflection point and a return to premium growth," Chief Executive Officer Henry Engelhardt said in a statement.
Admiral and rival car insurers including Direct Line (L:DLGD) and esure Group (L:ESUR) have been cutting prices to compete with not just each other, but with increasingly popular price-comparison websites as well.
The company raised its interim dividend by 1 percent to 49.4 pence per share and said expectations for its UK business were unchanged in 2014.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Nishant Kumar and William Hardy)