Kwik-Fit Insurance, which employs more than 800 staff in Lanarkshire, has reported a steep fall in sales and profits as it battles fierce competition in the online car insurance market.
Since Belgian insurer Ageas took control three years ago in a £210 million deal, the 18-year-old business has seen broking profits crash from £10.4m to £2.3m, according to accounts just filed at Companies House.
The fall on last year's pre-tax profit was 68%, following a fall of 32% in 2011 and a rise of 4% in 2010, the accounts show.
Turnover has slipped to £47.1m from £56.5m the previous year and £68.2m in 2010. Operating profit was slashed from £9.4m to £5.1m, with the expense ratio creeping up from 83% to 89%.
Ageas took a £30m dividend out of the company in 2011, but there was no dividend last year, enabling shareholder funds to grow by £1.7m to £15.4m.
The Belgian owners moved to cut costs a year ago by closing the Birmingham base of the group's Express Insurance arm, with the loss of 170 posts, and consolidating the operations of Kwik Fit Financial Services, Express Insurance and Green Insurance on the Kwik-Fit site at Uddingston, South Lanarkshire.
June Lynch, managing director at Kwik-Fit Financial Services, said total group revenue was down 15% at £71.2m, and combined profits were down from £8.8m to £3.5m, including the £1.9m cost of one site consolidation.
She said the business needed to "evolve strategic, mutually beneficial relationships with its insurer panel and price comparison site partners", and customer numbers had been increasing across 2013.
Ms Lynch added: "We primarily operate in the highly competitive car insurance market and have delivered a resilient performance for 2012. I'm pleased that in spite of challenging market conditions we continue to be a profitable business employing around 900 people in the Lanarkshire area."
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