Admiral Group, which is set to open new offices in Newport city centre in May, has announced a seven per cent rise in its pre-tax profits.

The profit before tax was £370m for the year to December 2013, an increase of seven per centover the previous year.

Henry Engelhardt, group chief executive officer of Admiral, said: "2013 was the year of the baked potato. It was a good, solid year, something on the plate that is appreciated but doesn’t really grab the spotlight. This is a comfort food set of results.

"Why the baked potato? Because the year was solid, but not flashy. We made more money than ever before, we grew customer numbers a little bit, we launched one new overseas business (comparenow.com), but there was no growth surge, there were no claims shocks; we just went about our business.

"I was thrilled that our UK staff voted us the second best place to work in the UK. Happy staff means happy customers and I thank all our staff for their hard work."

The board is proposing a final dividend for 2013 of 50.6 pence per share, to be paid on 30 May 2014.