Howden Group Holdings announces 2022 full year results

Consecutive year of 19% organic growth and transformational acquisitions demonstrates delivery of long-term strategy

London, 30 January 2023 - Howden Group Holdings (“Howden Group” or the “Group”), a leading international insurance group, today announces its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2022.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Continued exceptional financial performance: driven by record organic growth of 19% (FY 2021: 19%), a 60% increase in revenue to £1,841m (FY 2021: £1,148m), and a 69% increase in EBITDA to £565m (FY 2021: £335m).
• Completion of TigerRisk and the signed acquisition of March R.S. (both post period end) takes revenue on a pro forma basis to £2,036m and EBITDA of £648m.
• Entrepreneurial talent and client demand delivering unrivalled organic growth: 1,000 new employees (excluding from M&A) joined the Group in 2022. Including M&A, headcount increased by 4,100 with 400 senior practitioners joining over the last 24 months. This demonstrates an ability to attract top talent, with new initiatives contributing 20% of the Group’s organic growth.
• £2.9bn of fresh investment into the Group’s unique capital model from long-term equity and debt holders to support the sustainable growth strategy in FY 2022. A further £750m of equity was committed for the TigerRisk acquisition and employee shareholders of businesses joining the Group have reinvested £240m of equity since the start of FY 2022, along with a further 1,000 new employee shareholders, taking the total number to 3,500.
• 31 completed acquisitions in FY 2022 have transformed Howden’s position in key markets: notably Assiteca, forming the third largest broker in Italy with 20 offices. The completion of Aston Lark in the UK builds on the APlan acquisition and takes the total investment in the UK to £2bn in the last 24 months. Howden is ranked by the Employee Ownership Association as the UK’s fifth largest employee-owned business. Align in the US has redefined the reach and access of Howden’s MGA business, creating an international MGA group with over £2.2bn GWP. Additionally, post year end, completing TigerRisk in the US creates a brand new tier one reinsurance broker, and consolidates the Group’s position as a $30bn GWP global insurance intermediary.
• New capital solutions and product innovation helping build resilience: launch of Howden CAP in response to market-wide demand for new capital and insurance solutions. Howden continued to develop and launch industry leading climate risk solutions, including the first ever carbon offset insurance product.
• Howden Group Foundation, an independent grant-making charity and shareholder in the Group distributed in excess of £1.2m to its global charity partners over the year.

 

David Howden, CEO, Howden Group commented:

“Howden Group delivered exceptional financial performance in 2022, led by 19% organic growth, an accomplishment that is even more remarkable given it follows the stellar 19% growth in 2021. On a pro forma basis, we have almost doubled our revenue in just 12 months. Howden’s differentiated capital model, blending employee ownership with long-term institutional shareholders continues to provide the business with opportunity, strength and sustainability when it comes to deploying capital. We have welcomed 1,000 new employee shareholders to the Group this year, bringing the total number in the Group to 3,500, alongside the Howden Group Foundation, which is a significant shareholder in the business.

“The combination of Howden and TigerRisk represents the final strategic pillar of our Group architecture, providing a fresh dynamic for clients and a full spectrum offer across insurance, specialty, reinsurance, underwriting, capital markets and advisory. Howden Tiger creates a new force that has long been needed in the reinsurance market, a leader in many high growth specialist areas such as MGAs and Facultative, and critically a massive magnet for talent. Over the last 18 months, we have executed relentlessly on our strategy of building a business for, and over, the long term. We’ve done this by joining with other entrepreneurial companies who want to continue to grow and by attracting and retaining the best talent, all of whom share in our vision and passion.

“We have also established unrivalled reach and expertise in our home broking market of the UK and Ireland, and are a growing force in Europe. Almost half of our 31 acquisitions over the past twelve months were in continental Europe, and most recently that of March R.S. (post period end), reflecting our ambition to create a preeminent broking business of scale in Europe, a region that has long been our heartland. Our position has been cemented globally as the only player with the size, scale and expertise to rival the big three.

“As climate, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty continues, the insurance sector has a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate its value to society. At times like this it’s important that we challenge ourselves to find new ways of helping our clients confront a dynamic and interrelated risk environment, such as our product insuring the authenticity of carbon credits and our work on using insurance to fund disaster relief projects. Our focus on insurance as a force for good, innovation and our entrepreneurial mindset are among the key reasons that more and more clients are turning to Howden.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Group revenue of £1,841m (2021 £1,148m), an increase of 60%
• Adjusted consolidated EBITDA up 69% to £565m (2021: £335m)
• 19% organic growth - driven by new client wins and fresh talent joining the Group
• EBITDA margin of 31%
• 31 strategic acquisitions completed in 2022, including Align, Aston Lark and Assiteca
• Revenue pro forma for the completed acquisition of TigerRisk and the signed acquisition of March R.S. is £2,036m, and EBITDA £648m

GROUP HIGHLIGHTS

Howden Broking Group

• Successful integration of Aston Lark, establishing Howden’s UK and Ireland platform as the leading UK insurance broker representing UK clients with unrivalled geographical and product reach, with 5,000 employees across 160 offices
• Acquisition of TigerRisk in the US (completed 9th January 2023) transforming Howden’s position in reinsurance as a top tier player
• Cemented a leading presence across Europe. Howden is now the third largest broker in Italy, following the acquisition of Assiteca, and a leading broker in Spain with the acquisition of March R.S. (post period end)
• Acquisitions completed in Switzerland, Belgium, Norway, Italy, France, Spain, Estonia, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Australia and the UK
• Formation of Howden CAP underlining Howden’s commitment to leveraging insurance as a capital management tool
• 100 Treaty specialists joined the reinsurance division in 2022, alongside an MGA Global Program team in the US and the launch of Howden Tiger SabRE
• Howden welcomed 3,600 new employees over the course of the year

DUAL

• Doubling of DUAL Group’s GWP to £2.2bn driven by the integration of Align and organic growth of 26%
• Over 1,000 employees operating in 19 countries, more than 70 capacity providers, and over 11,000 distribution partners
• DUAL welcomed 400 new employees over the course of the year
• DUAL is one of Lloyd’s largest coverholders and one of the largest international MGAs, offering over 70 products from 19 countries across the world
• New initiatives include the launch of US Transactional Risk, UK Forestry and US Product Recall teams

CHANGES TO THE BOARD AND GEC

James Parry-Crooke, CDPQ was appointed to the board, replacing Domitille de Vienne and Rob Bredahl, CEO, Howden Tiger has been appointed to the Group Executive Committee following completion of the TigerRisk acquisition (9th January 2023 and post period end).

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

• Successfully raised £2.9bn of fresh capital over the course of 2022 from long term equity and debt holders, underlining existing investors’ commitment to Howden’s sustainable growth strategy
• 1,000 new employees joined as additional shareholders in 2022 giving a total of 3,500 with a total stake of 35% in the business. Howden now ranks as the fifth largest employee owned business in the UK as of June 2022
• Employee shareholders of businesses joining the Group have reinvested £240m of equity since the start of FY 2022
• Maintained a conservative leverage level of 5.0x cash pay leverage at constant FX rates
• Group’s ratings were reaffirmed at B2 Stable (Moody’s) and B Stable (S&P), with Howden Group maintaining one of the best Moody’s and S&P ratings among all levered brokers

SUSTAINABILITY

• Continued investment in the Climate, Risk and Resilience team to support the transition to a low carbon economy and to reflect a fervent belief that insurance is a force for good. Innovative new solutions to support clients in this way include:
  • The development and launch of the first ever carbon offset insurance product to bring credibility and confidence to the voluntary carbon market
  • Renewal of the world’s first ever catastrophe bond for volcanic eruptions
  • Development and launch of a new product in partnership with Skyline Partners and Munich Re that protects the Jamaican Co-operative Credit Union League (JCCUL) against non-repayment of microloans from farmers in the event of extreme weather
• Howden remains a committed and active partner of the Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Resilient Cities Network
• Howden Group Foundation, our independent grant-making charity and shareholder in the Group, distributed in excess of £1.2m to its global charity partners over the year

OUTLOOK

• Howden’s differentiated capital model, blending employee ownership with long-term institutional shareholders continues to provide the business with opportunity, strength and sustainability when it comes to deploying capital
• As we enter 2023, the macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges many of our clients faced in 2022 are set to continue, but in conditions such as these we believe insurance can deliver the greatest value and act as a force for good for our clients and broader society