Sabre Insurance Group (LSE:SBRE) told investors that gross written premiums rose 14.3% year-on-year to £173.4m in the nine months to 30 September, with the Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle segments up 16.5% and 52.9% respectively.
The UK motor insurance underwriter reiterated full-year guidance for profit before tax slightly higher than 2025, alongside continued premium growth and an undiscounted net insurance margin expected within its 18% to 22% target range.
At the half year, Sabre's net insurance margin stood at 15.7%, below that target range, a shortfall the company attributed to normal timing differences between premiums written and earned rather than any deterioration in underwriting quality.
Today's update confirms management's expectation, given at the half-year, that margin improvement in the second half would be supported by the earn-through of strong premium growth written earlier in the year.
Taxi premium fell 49.5% to £5m over the nine months, continuing a pullback in a segment Sabre has deprioritised, while growth in Motorcycle premium was driven by the continued roll-out of its Sabre Direct brand.
Claims inflation has run at between 6% and 7% during 2026, which the company said it is fully covering through its own pricing, even as it noted market-wide premium increases have not kept pace with claims cost inflation.
Sabre expects year-on-year premium growth for the full year, though it flagged that growth is likely to moderate in the fourth quarter as it maintains pricing discipline.
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"Our continuing focus on 'profit as the target and volume as an outcome' underpins our confidence in delivering a strong full-year result, which we expect will be slightly ahead of 2025", said chief executive Geoff Carter.
The company said strong capital generation is anticipated to support an attractive full-year dividend, and reaffirmed its Ambition 2030 target of delivering profit before tax of at least £80m in 2030 remains on track.
From the year ending 31 December, Sabre will combine its Motor Vehicle and Taxi reporting segments into a single "Motor Vehicle" segment, which the company said better reflects its strategic focus.