Direct Line Insurance Group unveiled plans on Monday to cut 550 roles, or about 5% of its global workforce, and reported a fall in gross premiums written in the third quarter, weighed down by its underperforming motor insurance business.
The British insurer has been struggling to reinvigorate its business under a turnaround strategy launched by CEO Adam Winslow after it fended off a 3.17 billion pound ($4.09 billion) takeover attempt by Belgian rival Ageas in March.
“We are in the early stages of a significant turnaround and our Q3 trading is not yet fully reflective of the actions we have taken,” Winslow said in a statement.
Direct Line had 10,131 employees globally, as of December-end, according to its annual report.
Aggressive price hikes have helped Direct Line mitigate the effect of rising cost of claims, but have also turned its customers away to cheaper rivals.
The company said its total gross written premium and associated fees reached 835.9 million pounds ($1.08 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 1.28 billion pounds a year earlier. ($1 = 0.7749 pounds) (Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
