TIDMPGH
RNS Number : 8192T
Personal Group Holdings PLC
23 July 2020
Press Release 23 July 2020
Personal Group Holdings plc
("the Company" or the "Group")
Half Year Trading Update
Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH), a technology-enabled
employee services provider, is pleased to provide the following
update for the six months ended 30 June 2020.
Trading Update
Given the current environment, the Company has had a positive
start to the year, with EBITDA for the first six months of
approximately GBP5 million*, ahead of the same period last year and
comfortably ahead of the Company's expectations at the start of the
pandemic. Revenue for the first six months was approximately
GBP30.0 million* (H1 2019: GBP30.0 million*). Whilst much of the
first half of 2020 was focused on preparing for and responding to
the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact on the financial position of the
Company in the first 6 months was relatively limited.
The core insurance business performed well in the first half of
the year despite the constraint of being unable to sell insurance
products face-to-face. Retention rates for existing policyholders
improved slightly, reflecting the value of the Company's hospital
plan and death benefit products during the pandemic, and claims
levels remained relatively static, with reduced general activity
within the NHS mitigating additional Covid-19 claims. The inability
to write material new insurance sales during lockdown will impact
premium income in the second half of 2020 and into 2021. In order
to reduce the impact of the inability to return to face-to-face
sales in the short-term, the Company has taken action to both
reposition the salesforce to virtual interactions and to focus
attention on retaining current policyholders. This new model will
allow the business the flexibility to continue sales activity in
the event of a second lockdown. The Claims and Customer Service
Teams have been working effectively from home during lockdown and
the Company is very proud of the support and service given to
policyholders, mainly key workers making death and hospital
in-patient claims.
Revenue from PG Let's Connect, the technology salary sacrifice
business, held up well during the period, with lockdown resulting
in strong sales of home computing and outdoor equipment, but it
remains a Q4 dominated business.
The recurring revenue model for SaaS also meant that revenue was
relatively unaffected during the first half of the year, other than
for consultancy business within the pay and reward subsidiary,
Innecto. Whilst new business activity slowed down as companies
focussed on their own responses to Covid-19, sales opportunities
are now starting to re-emerge, with a number of new clients
engaged.
The Company has worked with Sage, its partner in the SME sector,
to launch a limited free trial offer of Sage Employee Benefits to
Sage's customer base. Using Personal Group's in-house sales team to
help embed the product with SME employers and their staff, they aim
to demonstrate value in the platform to convert SME businesses at
the end of the free trial into monthly fee customers. So far, the
initial trials have been positive, allowing Personal Group to
showcase its platform to the vast Sage customer audience.
Whilst a number of employees remain on furlough, primarily sales
employees, the Company hopes to be able to return as many as
possible to the business over the coming months as client companies
also start to return to their own new normality. Whilst the
priority of client companies will continue to be the safety of
their employees and customers, focus is starting to shift to
recognise that they need to allow the Company access to its
policyholder base to enable them to keep 'Protecting the
Unprotected' - the core purpose for the insurance business.
*unaudited
Dividend
The Company paid a reduced quarterly dividend for Q2 as a result
of the uncertainty around the impact of the Covid-19 crisis but
intends to return to a full dividend payment for Q3 of 5.9p per
share. Further details regarding dividend payment dates will be
announced soon. The Board will consider the position for Q4 in due
course.
Outlook
Despite the strong start to 2020, the second half will not be
without its challenges. As alluded to above, the inability to write
new insurance sales during lockdown will impact premiums in H2 2020
and 2021 in the insurance business. Looking forward into the latter
part of 2020 and 2021 the Company, like many UK businesses, may be
impacted by a recession following lockdown. However, health and
wellbeing will undoubtedly become a significant focus for all
employers going forwards and the Company remains well placed to
help them deliver on this.
The Group has a strong balance sheet and no debt and is well
placed to grow and capitalise on opportunities that may arise
alongside the wider global recovery. The Board remains confident in
the long-term outlook for the Company and will provide an update on
strategy during the half year results in September.
Deborah Frost, Chief Executive of Personal Group, commented:
"Our robust recurring revenue model across the Group has enabled
us to weather the initial storm of Covid-19 and perform comfortably
ahead of expectations, following the initial outbreak of the
pandemic, for the first 6 months of 2020. The crisis will not be
without consequences for us however, and we are working hard to
minimise the impact of both a period with minimal new sales
activity and the predicted post Covid-19 recession by widening our
product offer, developing more channels to market, and ensuring
that our policyholders are supported if they experience job changes
and redundancy. I am confident that we are in a strong position to
deliver against these objectives and we have used the period of
lockdown constructively to develop our business to deliver future
stability.
"We are proud to have been paying out on Covid-19 claims and
supporting bereaved families and hospitalised policyholders, as
well as our own employees, through this difficult period."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Personal Group Holdings Plc
Deborah Frost - Chief Executive
Mike Dugdale - Chief Financial
Officer +44 (0)1908 605 000
Cenkos Securities Plc
Max Hartley / Callum Davidson
(Nomad) +44 (0)20 7397 8900
Russell Kerr (Sales)
Media enquiries:
Hudson Sandler
Nick Lyon / Lucy Wollam +44 (0)20 7796 4133
personalgroup@hudsonsandler.com
Notes to Editors
Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH) is a technology enabled
employee services business, working with employers to drive
productivity though better employee engagement and a more motivated
workforce. With over 35 years' experience, the Company provides
employee benefits and services to a large number of employees
across the UK.
Personal Group's offer comprises in-house services, including
employee insurance products (hospital, convalescence plans and
death benefit), the provision of home technology via salary
sacrifice (iPads, computers, laptops, smart phones and smart TVs),
the provision of e-payslips, and pay and reward consulting via
Innecto, the leading independent UK consultancy acquired in 2019.
Third party services include retail discounts, employee assistance
programmes, wellbeing programmes and salary sacrifice cars and
bikes.
The product offer is provided via the Company's proprietary
technology platform, Hapi. The platform is intuitive, designed
primarily for app deployment and also accessible via web and
tablet, driving better engagement, communication and value
recognition. Hapi is flexible and can quickly integrate additional
services, such as existing employee services and partner platforms.
Hapi is a digital SaaS product.
Through technology and select acquisitions, the Company has
grown its addressable market to the majority of the working
population in the UK; including 15.6m SME employees targeted via
its partnership with Sage, the UK's largest software company.
Personal Group's innovative approach to using technology to
deliver its programmes, in combination with its face-to-face method
of communicating with employees, delivers a compelling offer to
blue-chip clients across the UK as a way of attracting, retaining
and motivating employees. The acquisition of Innecto in February
2019 allows Personal Group to engage with clients earlier in their
thinking around Pay and Reward, and to interact with a new base of
blue-chip and fast growth clients typically at HR Director and CEO
level.
Personal Group has a strong client base across a diverse range
of sectors. Clients include: Arsenal F.C., Barchester Healthcare
Ltd, DHL Supply Chain Limited, The Go-Ahead Group plc, Samworth
Brothers Ltd, Independent Television News, Stagecoach Group plc and
Wincanton plc.
For further information, please see www.personalgroup.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
TSTPPUBUMUPUPUP
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 23, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Personal (LSE:PGH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Personal (LSE:PGH)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024