Insurer Admiral's half-year profit jumps 67% on strong UK motor insurance business

(Reuters) -British insurer Admiral Group reported a 67% jump in half-year pretax profit on Thursday, underpinned by competitive pricing and strong performance in its core UK motor insurance arm.

The company, which sold its U.S. motor insurance business in April, logged 516.1 million pounds ($700.81 million) of group pretax profit for the six-month period ended June 30, above the 309.8 million pounds reported last year.

($1 = 0.7364 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)