AA Ireland pretax profit jumps 17% to €12m

Revenue at insurer and breakdown assist provider AA Ireland rose by 10 per cent in 2016, as the company, which was acquired by a US private equity fund last year, benefited from an increase in membership.

In the 12 months to January 31st last, sales rose to €56.5 million and pretax profit jumped by 17.2 per cent to €12 million.

Membership of the AA, Ireland’s largest rescue company, grew strongly during the year, up by 6.4 per cent to 136,500, while the company’s insurance portfolio also advanced, up by 4.9 per cent to 215,700. AA Ireland offers car, home, life and travel insurance.

“The growth in our customer base was the key driver for increased turnover,” the company said in a note to its accounts.

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Membership premiums arising from the company’s breakdown assist unit rose by 9 per cent to €29.2 million, with insurance premiums up by 9 per cent to €26.5 million. Breakdown service volumes also rose, however, increasing by 3.8 per cent on 2016.

Last July, AA sold its Irish business to a Carlyle Group fund and financial services buyout team for €156.6 million. The business in Ireland continues to be run by the existing executive team.

According to the accounts, the obligation for the company’s defined-benefit pension scheme, which closed to new entrants in August 2014, was taken over by AA UK plc, ahead of the sale of AA Ireland.

Last week AA plc, which is no longer related to AA Ireland, fired its executive chairman Bob Mackenzie for gross misconduct and lowered its full-year forecasts, sending its shares sliding as much as 18 per cent to a record low.