Admiral Group, which has a base in Newport city centre, has appointed Geraint Jones as its new chief financial officer.

Geraint, originally from Nelson in South Wales, joined the Admiral Group in 2002 and held a number of senior finance positions including head of finance, before being promoted to deputy chief financial officer in January 2012. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Geraint has also worked as an external auditor at Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Henry Engelhardt, chief executive officer, said: “I am delighted to promote Geraint to his new role. He has a deep understanding of the entire Admiral business and culture, coupled with strong leadership and financial skills. I have no doubt that he will make an important contribution to the success of Admiral in the coming years.”

Geraint will take over from Kevin Chidwick who is handing over his CFO duties to focus solely on his role in the US as CEO of the rapidly growing Elephant Auto Insurance business.

Admiral has also released its results for the six months ended June 30, 2014.

Mr Engelhardt said: “Our customer numbers grew by nine per cent, we’ve continued to invest in all our businesses, profit increased by two per cent, and in July we successfully issued our first bond.

“In the UK there are some signs that premiums are no longer falling but we have yet to see firm evidence of an inflection point and a return to premium growth. Admiral’s premium rates have been pretty flat over the first half of the year, though as a result of the reductions in 2013, total premiums are down around nine per cent compared with the first half of 2013. Thanks to improved retention levels, we now insure over 130,000 more customers in the UK than at this time last year.

“Following the bond issue in July, I’m pleased to welcome a new set of investors to Admiral. This was an opportune time to strengthen and diversify our capital resources as we make a prudent transition into the Solvency II world. The additional capital also positions us well for the growth opportunities we see in all of our businesses in the coming years.”