PERSONAL GROUP HOLDINGS PLC

(“Personal Group”, “Company” or “Group”)

Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2019

Solid progress in line with management’s expectations.

Personal Group Holdings Plc, a leading provider of employee services in the UK, announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019. The Company has continued to make solid progress, performing in line with management’s expectations at the half year.  

Highlights

Financial

• Group revenue rose 42.4% to £30.0m (2018: £21.1m), including a £6.3m increase in transactional spend and commission on Hapi to £7.4m (2018: £1.1m)
• Adjusted EBITDA* down 5.0% to £4.5m (2018: £4.8m)
• Profit before tax increased 5.6% to £4.1m (2018: £3.9m)
• Basic EPS of 11.4p (2018: 10.5p), an increase of 8.6%
• Balance sheet remains strong with cash and deposits of £19.2m and no debt
• Dividends per share paid in the period up 1.3% to 11.65p (2018: 11.50p), maintaining progressive dividend policy

Operational

• Solid start to the year, with trading in line with management’s expectations at the half year
• Core insurance business continued to perform well, although new client acquisition has been slower than expected
• Substantial increase in SaaS revenue, growing 341% to £8.8m (2018: £2.0m) demonstrating increased utilisation of Hapi and volumes generated through reloadable cards and e-vouchers
• Strong PG Let’s Connect performance generated revenue of £5.8m (2018: £3.3m)
• Successful acquisition of Innecto in February 2019 already benefitting the Group – cross-selling opportunities and 53% growth in new business wins

* Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation of intangible assets, goodwill impairment, share-based expense payments, corporate acquisition costs, restructuring costs and the release of tax provisions. This definition applies to all references to Adjusted EBITDA within these interim results. A reconciliation from PBT to this Adjusted EBITDA has been included in Note 3.

Deborah Frost, Chief Executive of Personal Group, commented:

"Personal Group has performed in line with management's expectations during the first half of the year. Recent market testing of our proposition, following my appointment as Chief Executive, has confirmed that our comprehensive offering strongly resonates with our target customers. This, combined with the Company’s solid foundation and the evolution of our strategy, assures me of the opportunity for the future growth of the business. The Board remains confident in the long-term outlook and, whilst EBITDA is expected to be reduced as a result of the delayed timing of the launch of the next iteration of Sage Employee Benefits, revenue and reported profit before tax remain in line with market forecasts for the full year.’’

 

For more information please contact:

Personal Group Holdings

Deborah Frost/Mike Dugdale - +44 (0)1908 605000

Cenkos Securities plc

Max Hartley/Callum Davidson (Nomad) - +44 (0)20 7397 8900

Russell Kerr (Sales)

Hudson Sandler

Nick Lyon/Toby Andrews - +44 (0)20 7796 4133