The chief executive of Direct Line Group received a total pay package of more than £7.8 million for the company’s latest financial year, ahead of its £3.7 billion takeover by Aviva.
According to Direct Line Group’s annual report, as reported on by CityAM, Adam Winslow’s earnings were significantly increased by a £5.8 million payment to compensate for a loss of earnings after joining the company in March 2024. Winslow had previously served as chief executive of Aviva, which is set to acquire Direct Line Group following an agreement reached at the end of 2024.
Direct Line Group operates several brands, including Direct Line, Churchill, Green Flag and Privilege.
Earlier this month, the company reported a decline in pre-tax profit for 2024, falling from £277.4 million to £218.4 million, while net insurance revenue rose from £2.4 billion to £2.8 billion.
“The group has delivered on the strategic objectives set out by Adam Winslow at our capital markets day in July,” said Richard Ward, Direct Line Group’s remuneration chairman, in the annual report. “Strong growth in our core product areas has driven improved trading performance, further supported by bringing Direct Line Motor on to price comparison websites for the first time.”
Last month, Aviva exceeded expectations in its annual profit results amid its takeover of Direct Line. The FTSE 100 company posted a 20 per cent increase in operating profit to £1.77 billion in 2024, surpassing Bloomberg analyst forecasts of £1.71 billion.
Aviva’s chief executive, Amanda Blanc, who played a key role in the £3.7 billion deal, said the insurer was in “great shape” following the results.
In December, Aviva entered preliminary talks to acquire Direct Line Insurance Group in a deal valued at approximately 275 pence per share. The proposed merger is expected to see one-off integration costs of about £250 million, with the majority of the cost savings coming from the reduction of overlapping roles.
Aviva said it expects the merger to generate annual run-rate synergies of at least £125 million by the end of the third year after the completion of the deal, with about 50% of the potential synergy costs expected to come from the reduction of overlapping roles in certain shared services, head office and senior management functions.
The deal is expected to close in mid-2025, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions. Upon deal completion, Aviva shareholders will own about 87.5% of the combined entity, while Direct Line shareholders will own 12.5% of the entity.
