TAVI Tavistock Investments Plc

Tavistock Investments Plc

("Tavistock", the "Company" or the "Group")

 Interim Results deliver Progress and Enhanced Scope for Growth

9 December 2024

Tavistock (AIM: TAVI) announces its unaudited interim results for the six month period ended 30 September 2024.

Key milestones in strategic repositioning:

In line with its strategy to increase shareholder value by optimising the balance between regulatory risk and potential commercial reward, during the period the Board successfully completed:

·    the planned reduction in the Group's Appointed Representative network;

·    a highly profitable disposal of its network of self-employed Registered Individual IFAs, enhancing development capital to provide a springboard for growth;

·    its reorganisation into a Group with profitable core businesses and significantly improved cash resources, with a strategy to generate increasing shareholder returns; and,

·  the conditional acquisition of Alpha Beta Partners, a well-regarded asset management business with approaching £3 billion of assets under management and a retail investor focus complimentary with Tavistock.

An interim dividend of 0.09p per share is to be paid on 16 January 2025, which is a 29% increase on the dividend that was paid in December 2023. The Record Date for this dividend will be 27 December 2024 and the Ex-Dividend date will be 24 December 2024.

Trading summary:

Reflecting the impact of the reduction in the Group's Appointed Representative network, referred to above, the results for the period can be summarised as follows:

·    revenues of £19.6 million (H1 2023: £20.6 million);

·    adjusted EBITDA of £0.7 million (H1 2023: £1.8 million), and

·    reported loss from operations of £0.2 million (H1 2023: profit of £0.9 million).

Brian Raven, Tavistock's Chief Executive, said: "I am pleased with the significant progress we've made with the strategic refocussing of the Group's activities, increasing our ability to provide solutions in the UK retail investment market. I anticipate that the non-advised provision of investment management services to the clients of third-party advice businesses and directly to the public will become a substantial part of Tavistock's service proposition. Our debt facility with Bank of Ireland and cash resources following the disposal of our network of self-employed IFAs give us the wherewithal to expand our scope and profitability and we are in active talks with a number of targets."

For further information:

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The Board's strategy is to optimise the balance between regulatory risk and potential commercial reward thereby increasing the intrinsic value of the Company for the benefit of its shareholders.

I am therefore pleased to report that significant progress has been achieved by the Board with the refocusing of the Group's proposition.

During the period under review, the Board successfully completed the planned reduction in the Group's Appointed Representative network and negotiated a highly profitable disposal of its network of self-employed Registered Individual IFAs to The Saltus Partnership LLP ("Saltus"). This transaction is addressed is greater detail below.

Financial performance during the period

The reduction of the Group's Appointed Representative network has inevitably had an adverse impact on the level of gross revenue and reported EBITDA for the period. 

The Company's performance during the period, and during the equivalent period last year, is summarised in the table below.

Adjusted EBITDA (defined as being Earnings before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation as adjusted to remove the distorting effect of one-off gains and losses arising on acquisitions/disposals, as well as other non-cash items) is highlighted as the Board considers this, rather than Operating Profit, to be the best measure of the Company's underlying performance.

*After the period end, the Company received the initial consideration payment from Saltus (see details below) which increased its cash resources by £22 million.

Strategic repositioning

On 1 October 2024, the Company announced that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of two of its subsidiary businesses: Tavistock Partners Limited ("TPL") and Tavistock Estate Planning Services Limited ("TEPS") to Saltus for a cash consideration of up to £37.75 million.

The consideration was substantially higher than the market capitalisation of the Company on AIM and the disposal of these businesses affords the Company an opportunity to realise a significant profit on the investment that it has made over past years in acquiring and developing these businesses.

Prior to completion of this transaction, the Board took certain steps to re-organise the Group in order to transfer to TPL all of the current operating assets and intellectual property within Tavistock Partners (UK) Limited, including the benefit of client relationships, adviser contracts and other contractual relationships.

All the completion conditions for the transaction were subsequently satisfied and on 29 November 2024, the Company received the initial consideration payment of £22 million. This provides the Company with significant working and development capital for potential future acquisitions which will enable the continued reshaping of the Group.

On 22 November 2024, the Company announced that it has exchanged contracts for the acquisition of Alpha Beta Partners Limited ("ABP"), a well-regarded asset management business based in London and Bath. ABP has some £3 billion of assets under management and a strategic focus on retail investors served by regulated advice businesses which is complementary to Tavistock's own business positioning. 

This acquisition strengthens Tavistock's asset management scale and solutions provision in the UK retail investment market. It is a key step in the Group's refocusing into a much more significant asset manager providing investment solutions to third party advice firms and networks, as well as to retail clients directly.

Led by Geoff Brooks and Andrew Thompson together with a team of experienced industry professionals, ABP was established in 2017 to provide outsourced investment propositions to regulated advice businesses and networks. ABP is particularly noted for its "Dynamic Asset Allocation" process and modular proposition, providing retail and wholesale investors with institutional techniques rarely found in this market segment. The success of its outcome-oriented investment solutions has been recognised by Defaqto's 5 Star and 5 Diamond Ratings for the past 5 years.

The total consideration to be paid for ABP will be directly linked to its financial performance over the next five years. There will be an initial payment of £6.0 million at completion of the acquisition with the maximum potential consideration capped at £18.0 million, payable in cash. Completion of the transaction is subject to change in control approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA").

The acquisition is a logical next step for Tavistock, having completed the planned reduction of the Group's network of appointed representative firms and the disposal of its networks of self-employed Registered Individuals to Saltus.

Following the Saltus transaction the Company has retained both its profitable, employed adviser business, Tavistock Private Client, and its profitable protection business, Tavistock Protect. The Board intends that the provision of investment management services to the clients of third-party advice businesses, and directly to the public on a non-advised basis, will become a substantial part of the Group's service proposition.

Hence, the addition of ABP to the Group is particularly fitting, as it will form the cornerstone of the Company's strategic focus on asset management.

Dividends

The Company is proposing to pay an interim dividend on 16 January 2025 of 0.09p per share, which is a 29% increase on the dividend that was paid in December 2023. The Record Date for this dividend will be 27 December 2024 and the Ex-Dividend date will be 24 December 2024.

Prospects

The Board's focus continues to be on optimising the Group's structure and maximising shareholder value. The Board is in active discussions with a number of acquisition targets and the Group is well capitalised thanks to its debt facility with Bank of Ireland and cash resources following the disposal of its network of self-employed Registered Individual IFAs.

I look forward to updating shareholders in due course.

Oliver Cooke

Chairman

9 December 2024

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The notes form part of the Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC                                                                                                       COMPANY NUMBER: 05066489

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements were approved by the Board and authorised for issue on

9 December 2024.

Oliver Cooke

Chairman

The notes form part of the Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC                                       

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The notes on pages 7-9 form part of the Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

The notes form part of the Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

TAVISTOCK INVESTMENTS PLC

NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2024

1.         ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation  

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with UK adopted International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

The Financial Statements are presented in pound sterling and all values are rounded to the nearest thousandth (£'000), except when otherwise indicated.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with accounting policies that are consistent with the March 2024 Report and Accounts and that are expected to be applied in the Report and Accounts of the year ending 31 March 2025.

The financial information does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 435 of the Companies Act 2006. Statutory accounts for Tavistock Investments Plc for the year ended 31 March 2024 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those accounts was unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis and did not contain a statement under Section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

2.         SEGMENTAL INFORMATION

A segmental analysis of revenue and expenditure for the period is:

The segmental analysis above reflects the parameters applied by the Board when considering the Group's monthly management accounts. The Directors do not consider a division of the statement of financial position to be appropriate or useful for the purposes of understanding the financial performance and position of the Group.

During the period under review, the Group operated and earned revenue exclusively within the UK.