Car insurance

AA says turnaround is on the right road following contract wins

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The AA insisted its turnaround was on track despite a membership slump as it trumpeted a series of key wins to supply breakdown cover to business clients.

The company, which is struggling under billions of pounds of debt left by its previous private equity backers, said it was on course to make more than £340m in pre-tax profits this year – £2m above what City analysts had pencilled in.

Personal memberships continued to fall, slipping 2pc to 3.2m during the year to January, but the AA does the majority of its work for corporate clients.

It renewed or extended “key” contracts with Lloyds Banking Group, Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as winning a new three-year deal with car leasing company Arval.

The AA is in the middle of a turnaround led by chief executive Simon Breakwell, who was hired after his predecessor Bob Mackenzie was sacked following a "physical altercation" with a colleague on a company away day.

Mr Breakwell, who was a founder of the travel booking website Expedia and has also worked for Uber, has increased its investment in technology as well as the number of patrols on the road in a bid to keep the AA relevant to younger customers.

However, he is also grappling with £2.7bn of debt, mostly in bonds, that dwarfs its stock market value of less than £600m.

The AA has also been expanding its insurance business, ending the year with 731,000 car policies and 830,000 home insurance policies on its books, up 16pc and 1.5pc respectively.

Shares were up 1.6pc at 93p in afternoon trade – a long way from the 250p it floated at in 2014.

The stock is among the 10 most shorted on the London market, with about 9pc of its shares on loan to hedge funds, who borrow shares and sell them in the hope of cashing in if they fall in value.  

Mr Breakwell said: “We recognise there is lots still to do in our plan to build a better AA, but we are on track and where we expected to be at this stage of the turnaround.”   

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