Broker snap: Strong first quarter for Admiral

9th May 2011 11:31

After a strong first quarter statement, Admiral has seen its target price raised by Credit Suisse to reflect upside revisions to the broker's near-term earnings forecasts.On Friday, the car insurer reported a 56% year-on-year growth in first quarter turnover to £539m, while group vehicle count was up 33% to 2.9m. However, the group said that Confused.com margins remain under pressure while revenues at the division were flat."Few details were released in the interim management statement on Friday. However, the delta between revenue and vehicle count growth numbers shows that pricing momentum is still there and that UK motor markets remain hard," said analyst Richard Burden.The Swiss broker has increased its target price by 4% to 1,728p, from 1,662p, to reflect its average 4% hike in earnings per share estimates for 2011-2013. A 'neutral' rating is maintained.---BC