The operating loss from ongoing operations compares to a loss of 6.4 million pounds in 2022, as the insurer grapples high claims inflation.

The insurer, which has in recent weeks shot down two takeover offers from Belgian insurer Ageas, scrapped its dividend in early 2023.

New chief executive Adam Winslow, who started earlier this month, said in a statement the insurer was completing a "comprehensive strategic review" during the first half of 2024 and would report back to shareholders in July.

Direct Line said it would pay a dividend of four pence and it set a new target of 13% net insurance margin in 2026, with at least 100 million pounds of cost savings by the end of 2025.

($1 = 0.7816 pounds)

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Sinead Cruise)