Chill Insurance returns to profit with €1.1m surplus

Revenues increased by 8% to €31m in the 12 months to the end of April 2023

Irish online broker Chill Insurance returned to profit last year, its latest accounts show. Photograph: iStock

The firm that operates online insurance broker Chill last year returned to the black with a pretax profit of €1.12 million.

Consolidated accounts show that Chill Insurance Ltd recorded the profits as revenues increased by 8 per cent to €30.7 million in the 12 months to the end of April 2023.

The pretax profits of €1.12 million last year followed losses of €722,342 in the prior year.

The number employed by the group increased from 227 to 231 as staff costs rose marginally to €11.54 million.

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Chill is an online insurance intermediary based in Sandyford, Dublin 18. It works closely with leading insurance providers for the likes of home, life, travel and car insurance.

Established in 2007 by brothers Pádraig and Séamus Lynch, ithas grown into the largest independent personal lines insurance broker here, trebling in size since 2011.

In 2020, UK private equity firm Livingbridge agreed to buy a majority stake in Chill that saw the Lynch brothers retain a minority holding of about 30 per cent.

The profits last year take account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €2.88 million made up of amortisation costs of €2.63 million.

Pay to directors totalled €329,688 last year after receiving zero remuneration in 2022.

The firm generated cash of €1.34 million from operating activities.

At the end of April 2023, the group had shareholder funds of €16.34 million that included accumulated profits of €6.94 million. The group’s cash funds had declined to €9.83 million from €11.88 million in 2022.

On the risks facing the business, the directors state that the group recognises cyber risk, such as the use of hacking techniques, social engineering or other malicious activities with the intent to cause damage or steal data for financial or competitive gain, as a growing threat.

The directors state that the group “already has in place a comprehensive framework of controls to actively manage this risk which it regularly reviews and adapts as this threat evolves”.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times