Admiral dividend
Admiral targets a normal dividend of 65% of post-tax profit, with forecast dividends per share ranging from £0.90 to £2.00 across the bear and bull cases. Cash coverage is not a clean retail-style test: Admiral's capital needs, growth plans and insurance cash flows affect distributions.
How much does Admiral pay per share?
Dividends follow Admiral's stated 65% ordinary payout policy. Base DPS rises from £1.43 to £1.52 and £1.60 as earnings recover. The bear case falls from £1.10 to £0.95 and £0.90; the bull case rises from £1.55 to £1.80 and £2.00. That spread reflects the company's uneven DPS record, which ranged from £0.734 to £1.587 in the supplied history.
| October 2027 | October 2028 | October 2029 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings | 839 (710 / 950) | 881 (660 / 1,050) | 925 (650 / 1,150) |
| Shares (millions) | 305 (308 / 304) | 305 (309 / 303) | 304 (309 / 301) |
| Dividends per share | 1.43 (1.10 / 1.55) | 1.52 (0.95 / 1.80) | 1.60 (0.90 / 2.00) |
| Price to earnings | 13.50 (10.50 / 16.00) | 13.00 (9.50 / 17.00) | 12.50 (9.00 / 18.00) |
Does Admiral's cash cover its dividend?
The table shows that Admiral’s largest distributions included cash released by the Penguin sale. That rewarded shareholders immediately, but it left future expansion dependent on later profits or further asset sales. In 2025, Admiral kept only £30.2 million, compared with £281.8 million in 2024, so less of that year’s profit remained available to build the business.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income | 745.6 | 651.6 | |||
| − Dividends paid on ordinary shares | 715.4 | 369.8 | 307.1 | 658.3 | 720.9 |
| − Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| = Kept to grow and build capital | 30.2 | 281.8 | |||
| Paid out, % of earnings for common | 95.9% | 56.8% | |||
| Acquisitions | 0 | 82.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What this means. Blank profit figures for 2023 and earlier do not mean the company made no profit; those figures are left out because they include a business the company sold and cannot be compared fairly with the remaining business.
What could change Admiral's dividend?
Management targets a normal dividend of 65% of post-tax profit, subject to capital needs and growth. The announced buyback is capped at £45.0m through 31 December 2026.
H2 2026 is the first test: lower UK Motor reinsurance charges and rate increases should support profit. UK Motor claims costs were 7% higher year on year in Q2 2026. Flock’s £76.4m cash acquisition in May 2026 must turn commercial fleet growth into profitable policies. The internal capital-model application will test capital headroom and future distributions.
What is Admiral's dividend yield today?
Dividends and buybacks are two ways profit reaches shareholders. A dividend pays cash directly; a buyback uses company money to repurchase and cancel shares, leaving the remaining owners with a larger percentage of the business. In H1 2026, Admiral declared a 70.5p dividend and a £45 million buyback. Its solvency ratio was 190% after those payments, showing capital headroom but not removing risk.
| Today (Oct 18, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 3,784.00 |
| P/E, last 12 months (calculated) | 17.4x |
| P/E, next 12 months (calculated) | 13.9x |
| Price to book (calculated) | 7.7x |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 4.2% |
What this means. The next-year price-to-profit number uses analysts’ estimated profit, so it is not guaranteed.