annual report 2007 - the Admiral Group plc

44 FINANCIAL STATEMENTSDirectors’ reportThe Directors present their Annual Report andthe audited financial statements for the yearended 31 December 2007.Business reviewThe Company is the holding Company for theAdmiral Group of companies. The Group’sprincipal activity continues to be the sellingand administration of private motor insuranceand related products.The information that fulfils the requirementsof the Business review, as required by Section234 ZZB of the Companies Act 1985, andwhich should be treated as forming part ofthis report by reference are included in thefollowing sections of the annual report:· Chairman’s statement.· Chief Executive’s statement.· Financial review.· Principle risks and uncertainties as containedin note 18· Corporate responsibility report.Group results and dividendsThe profit for the year, after tax but beforedividends, amounted to £127.4m (2006:£103.7m).The Directors declared and paid dividends of£116.0m during 2007 (2006: £70.1m) – refer tonote 14 for further details.The Directors are proposing a final dividend of£60.9m (23.2p per share), payable on 7th May2008.Share capitalOther than the holdings of the Directors asdisclosed in the remuneration report, so far asthe Directors are aware, or have been notifiedpursuant to section 198 of the Companies Act1985, the following shareholders have interestsin 3% or more of the ordinary share capital ofthe Company at 4 March 2008:Number of shares %Munich Re 39,579,400 15.07%Newton InvestmentManagers 15,032,472 5.72%Fidelity 13,465,622 5.13%BlackRock Inc 13,019,317 4.96%Capital Group 12,766.870 4.86%Jupiter AssetManagement 12,361,744 4.71%Legal & GeneralGroup Plc 7,950,924 3.03%Financial InstrumentsThe objectives and policies for managing risksin relation to financial instruments held by theGroup are set out in note 18 to the financialstatements.Directors and their interestsThe present Directors of the Company areshown on the inside cover of this report,whilst Directors’ interests in the sharecapital of the Company are set out in theremuneration report.Charitable and politicaldonationsDuring the year the Group donated £87,000(2006: £38,000) to various local and nationalcharities. The Group has never madepolitical donations. Refer to the corporateresponsibility report for further detail.