Chief executive says claims specialist has money to spend 

Claims and outsourcing specialist Charles Taylor’s half-year adjusted profit before tax rose 14.1% to £5.9m (H1 2014: £5.2m).

Revenue also increased to 21.7% to £69.1m (H1 2014: £56.8m).

Charles Taylor also managed to wipe away its £21.9m debt and now has in £1.8m cash. This follows a rights issue this year which raised £28.9m.

The company teamed up with private equity firm The Riverside Company to acquire a majority stake in software firm Fadata. 

Chief executive David Marock said: “We are evaluating a number of opportunities. As previously stated, such opportunities need to be a good strategic, cultural and financial fit with the group’s existing businesses.”

So far this year Charles Taylor has launched a Lloyd’s managing agency, acquired an international life insurer, expanded its international offices and appointed a number of senior staff and senior loss adjusters. 

Charles Taylor said it had undergone a decline in complex claims within the loss adjusting division becasue of tough trading conditions. Money spent investing in the division partly-explained the fall in operating profits to £800,000 from £1.4m. 

Explaining the group results, Marock said: “We benefited from our broad diversification of operations across the global insurance market

“A strong performance from our insurance support services business and steady progress by our management services and owned insurance companies businesses have more than compensated for the weaker trading conditions experienced by the adjusting services business.”