Pre-tax profits at the one of the country's largest health insurers, Laya Healthcare last year more than doubled to €19.02m.
New accounts filed by Laya Healthcare Ltd show that pre-tax profits increased by 108% from €9.13m in 2023 to €19.02m last year.
This followed revenues rising by 2.5% from €100.85m to €103.39m.
Last year Laya imposed two premium price hikes on its customer base.
In October 2024, it increased its premiums on average by 6.5%, stating at the time that the price rise was needed to address the increased demand for healthcare services and rising costs.
The hike followed a 7% price increase in April 2024 and the insurer has increased premium rates twice in 2025 - in October and April as part of a trend of recent years.
Last month, Laya increased its prices by an average of 4.5% where it blamed higher demand for private and high-tech healthcare and new advances in medical technology for its higher costs.
October's increase comes following a separate increase in premiums of 6.6% at the beginning of April this year.
In their report on the 2024 financial performance, the directors don’t refer to the 2024 price increases.
Instead they state that there were a number of factors contributing to the profitable results including Laya Healthcare’s continued growth within the Irish market.
They state that this growth saw the company’s membership base growing to over 717,000 members in 2024 from 696,000 in 2023 - an increase of 3%.
The directors state that the company’s "Health and Wellness services also saw growth during the year, through the expansion of products and offerings to both our corporate and individual members".
The firm last year paid out dividends of €5m after a dividend payout of €25m in 2024.
In a subsequent event, the directors state that Dermot Oliver O’Connor succeeded Dónal Clancy to assume the position of MD of the company on January 1st of this year.
Last year was the first full year of the ownership of Laya Healthcare by French headquartered Axa following the €650m sale of Laya Healthcare by AIG subsidiary, Corebridge Financial to Axa in October 2023.
Profits were hit in 2023 by a €15.1m bill in transactional costs in the sale to Axa that did not re-occur last year.
Numbers employed by Laya Healthcare last year increased by 43 from 664 to 707 as staff costs rose from €44.74m to €46.44m
The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €5.6m.
The company recorded post tax profits of €14.8m after taking into account a corporation tax charge of €4.2m.
At the end of December last, the firm’s accumulated profits totalled €67.26m.
The company’s cash funds increased from €96.3m to €111.09m.
The cash funds were made up of Laya Healthcare cash balances of €38.59m and restricted cash of €72.5m that was held on behalf of the underwriter.
Commenting on the results, Managing Director of Laya Healthcare, Mr Dermot Oliver O'Connor said: "2024 was a year of strong performance and strategic investment for laya healthcare. Our financial strength allows us to meet the growing healthcare needs of our 717,000 members — ensuring faster access to care and better medical outcomes."
"When normalised for once-off transactional costs linked to the sale of laya healthcare to AXA in 2023, our net profit after tax is down 35%, reflecting our continued investment in expanding access and clinical excellence - from growing our Laya Health & Wellbeing Clinic network to enhancing digital and diagnostic services.
"We opened new Laya Health & Wellbeing Clinics in Cork and Swords, creating over 50 jobs and offering members rapid access to urgent care within 60 minutes and diagnostic scans - including MRI, CT, X-ray and Dexa - within five days and results in two. Our focus remains clear: to deliver better health outcomes, faster access, and genuine value for our members", Mr O’Connor added.
In 2024, Laya treated almost 95,000 urgent care cases and carried out over 25,000 diagnostic tests across its growing Laya Health & Wellbeing Clinic network, while delivering more than 138,000 consultations through its CareOnCall service that includes fast access to online consultations with a GP.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
