TIDMNAH
RNS Number : 1763H
NAHL Group PLC
26 July 2023
Prior to publication, the information contained within this
announcement was deemed by the Group to constitute inside
information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the publication of
this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the
public domain.
26 July 2023
NAHL Group PLC
("NAHL" or the "Group")
Half Year Trading Update
NAHL (AIM: NAH), a leading marketing and services business
focused on the UK consumer legal market, is pleased to provide a
trading update for the first half of its current financial year,
covering the six months to 30 June 2023 (the "Period").
Highlights
-- Revenue and profit in line with management expectations
-- 178% more claims settled in National Accident Law than last
year, resulting in a 77% increase in cash received from
settlements
-- Market share gains by National Accident Helpline against an
overall contraction in the personal injury claims market
-- Strong performance from Bush & Co., with expert reports
up 15% and increase in personnel to meet growing demand
-- Net debt reduced by 13% to GBP11.6m (31 December 2022: GBP13.3m)
-- The Board expects the Group to meet market expectations for the full year
Group results
Group revenues for the Period are expected to be slightly ahead
of last year at GBP21.0m (H1 2022: GBP20.7m). The Group's strategy
to invest in new claims in its wholly-owned law firm, National
Accident Law ("NAL") - which have a long life cycle but produce
higher returns - and the planned reduction in claims still to
settle in the joint venture partnerships is expected to result in
operating profit of approximately GBP1.8m versus GBP2.3m in H1
2022. This will also result in the charge to profit attributable to
members' non-controlling interests in LLPs being lower than last
year by 30% at GBP1.4m (H1 2022: GBP1.9m). This is in keeping with
our stated strategy of growing NAL, and in the short term these
factors, along with increased borrowing costs due to the rise in UK
interest rates, mean that the Group is expected to report a broadly
breakeven result (before tax) for the Period (H1 2022: GBP0.1m
profit before tax).
The Group has made substantial progress in reducing net debt and
at 30 June 2023, net debt was GBP11.6m, down 13% from GBP13.3m at
31 December 2022 and down 20% from GBP14.5m at 30 June 2022.
The Board expects the Group to meet market expectations for the
full year.
Divisional performance
In the Consumer Legal Services division, the number of personal
injury enquires generated by National Accident Helpline was the
same as last year on a like-for-like basis(1) , in a personal
injury claims market that contracted by 1%. As outlined in the
Group's AGM statement on 25 May 2023, the business received a
higher mix of road traffic accident ("RTA") enquiries in the Period
versus last year, which took up the majority of the capacity in NAL
. The Group's agile placement model and strong demand for enquiries
allowed excess non-RTA cases to be placed with its panel of
third-party law firms although the Group continues to invest in
capacity for non-RTA claims in NAL so that it can also process more
of these in the future.
The total number of enquiries generated remained broadly in line
with the prior year and the Group distributed 4,555 new enquiries
into NAL (H1 2022: 4,531) in the Period. The firm ended the Period
processing 10,611 ongoing claims (31 December 2022: 10,860) after
settling 178% more claims than last year (H1 2023: 1,738; H1 2022:
626). Consequently, NAL increased cash from settlements by 77% to
GBP2.7m (H1 2022: GBP1.5m), further demonstrating the growing
maturity of the firm and contributing to the Group's overall
reduction in net debt.
In the Group's Critical Care division, Bush & Co. traded
strongly, and its ongoing marketing and business development
activities continued to deliver results. Expert witness services
had a particularly strong six months with the number of expert
witness reports issued up 15% in the Period, and in case
management, the number of initial needs assessments delivered was
up 5%. To support the increased demand, the business recruited 40
new associates in the Period and added 3 new colleagues to its
growing team of employed case managers.
Publication of interim results
NAHL expects to announce its results for the six months ended 30
June 2023 in late September 2023.
James Saralis, CEO of NAHL, commented:
"We are pleased with the progress the business has made in the
first half of the financial year. In line with our stated strategy,
we have continued to reduce net debt and settled 178% more claims
in the period than last year. Whilst the Personal Injury market
remains stagnant, we believe that our industry-leading brand,
National Accident Helpline, continues to take market share and our
Critical Care business continues to go from strength to strength,
issuing 15% more expert witness reports than the same time last
year as well as recruiting 40 new associates to meet the growing
demand. As a result, and notwithstanding the difficult
macroeconomic environment, our full year expectations remain
unchanged."
(1) Like-for-like enquiry numbers exclude tariff-only road
traffic accident claims, which the Group ceased to process in
February 2022.
For further information:
NAHL Group PLC via FTI Consulting
James Saralis (CEO) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Chris Higham (CFO)
Allenby Capital (AIM Nominated Adviser & Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656
Jeremy Porter/Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance)
Amrit Nahal/Stefano Aquilino (Sales & Corporate
Broking)
FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Alex Beagley NAHL@fticonsulting.com
Sam Macpherson
Amy Goldup
Notes to Editors
NAHL Group plc (AIM: NAH) is a leader in the Consumer Legal
Services market. The Group provides services and products to
individuals and businesses in the through its two divisions:
-- Consumer Legal Services provides outsourced marketing
services to law firms through National Accident Helpline and claims
processing services to individuals through National Accident Law,
Law Together and Your Law. In addition, it also provides property
searches through Searches UK.
-- Critical Care provides a range of specialist services in the
catastrophic and serious injury market to both claimants and
defendants through Bush & Co.
More information is available at www.nahlgroupplc.co.uk , www.national-accident-helpline.co.uk , www.national-accident-law.co.uk and www.bushco.co.uk .
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END
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