Admiral in a commanding position

Admiral, the insurer led by ebullient chief executive Henry Engelhardt, is on the up. It is insuring ever greater numbers of cars at higher prices.

It said it is in a good position to beat City profit forecasts after a 56% rise in first-quarter sales to £539 million.

Admiral, which insures one car in 10 on Britain's roads, was on track to "at least" meet analysts' consensus profit forecast for the full year, it said.

City analysts were betting it will make £320 million this year, up from £266 million last time, before today's upbeat statement.

Admiral insures 2.9 million UK cars.

Turnover at its Confused.com price comparison website was flat amid falling profit margins.

Confused.com, one of Britain's first price comparison websites, has been hit by competition from the likes of Go Compare and Comparethemarket.com.

Engelhardt said: "Admiral's UK car insurance business had another great quarter."