Corporate News

'Successful investment in Legal Services driving case settlement and cash collection'

Anexo Group plc (AIM: ANX), the specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider, is pleased to report its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2019 ('H1 2019' or the 'period').  The Board is pleased to report another successful six months of strong growth with management confident in meeting current market expectations for FY 2019.

	H1 2019	H1 2018	Movement
Revenue	£36.7 million	£23.6 million	+55.5%
Adjusted operating profit1	£11.8 million	£7.3 million	+61.6%
Adjusted profit before tax1	£11.0 million	£6.8 million	+62.6%
Net assets	£82.9 million	£68.6 million	+20.8%
Cash collection	£36.6 million	£28.2 million	+29.8%
Basic EPS	7.6 pence	4.1 pence	+85.4%

• Adjusted¹ operating profit margin increased to 32.2% (H1 2018: 30.9%)
• Net cash outflow from operating activities² to fund growth of £3.3 million (H1 2018: net cash inflow £0.5 million)
• Proposed interim dividend of 1 penny per share (H1 2018: Nil)
• Net debt balance at 30 June 2019 stood at £23.4 million (30 June 2018: net debt post listing of £2.4 million)
• Post period end, Anexo successfully renegotiated its working capital facilities, securing considerable improvements in its financing arrangements, and agreed new terms with fleet insurance providers to deliver enhanced savings in remainder of FY 2019 and in 2020
• Anexo on track to meet FY 2019 market expectations of adjusted profit before tax of £23.0 million

1 Adjusted results exclude certain expenses incurred as part of the AIM listing, share based payments and the transition to IFRS 16 – Leases.

2 Cash flows from operations exclude movements in directors' loans and the impact of IFRS 16.

Operational Highlights

• Fully stand-alone new legal office in Bolton achieved break even point within four months. The Bolton office increased headcount to 63 by 30 June 2019, of which 28 were experienced litigators, increasing the Group's ability to settle cases and generate cash. As at 30 June 2019, a further 10 experienced litigators had accepted positions and not yet started
• Following a period of significant growth across the Group, the expansion of the vehicle fleet has been more measured as the Group seeks to optimise margin and cash collections, thus underpinning an improvement in financial performance

KPIs	H1 2019	H1 2018	Movement
Number of vehicles on hire at the period end	1,571	1,240	+26.7%
Average number of vehicles on hire for the period	1,496	912	+64.0%
Number of hire cases settled	2,066	1,730	+19.4%
Cash collections from settled cases (£'000s)	36,628	28,230	+29.7%
Number of new cases funded	3,392	2,588	+31.1%
Legal staff employed at period end	344	215	+60.0%
Number of senior fee earners at period end	109	74	+47.3%
Average number of senior fee earners	98	71	+38.0%

Commenting on the Interim Results, Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman of Anexo Group plc, said:

“We are pleased to report another strong set of results, with all key financial metrics and KPIs ahead of the comparative period last year.  At the time of our AIM IPO in June 2018, we outlined a number of key objectives such as expanding the vehicle fleet, opening a regional office and further legal recruitment and I am delighted to report that a year later we have made excellent progress on these objectives which is reflected in these half year results.

Anexo remains extremely well positioned to grow its market share and take advantage of the opportunities available to it.  The Board views the current financial year and beyond with considerable optimism.”

 

Analyst meeting

A meeting for analysts will be held at 09.30am today, 10 September 2019, at the offices of Buchanan, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN.  A copy of the Interim Results presentation is available at the Company's website www.anexo-group.com

An audio webcast of the analysts meeting will be available after 12pm today: https://webcasting.buchanan.uk.com/broadcast/5d381ed948a6d52f84f6b009

 

For further information:

Anexo Group plc
Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman	Tel: +44 (0) 151 227 3008
Mark Bringloe, Chief Financial Officer	www.anexo-group.com
Nick Dashwood Brown, Head of Investor Relations
Arden Partners plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
John Llewellyn-Lloyd / Benjamin Cryer (Corporate)	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7614 5900
Fraser Marshall (Equity Sales)	www.arden-partners.co.uk
Buchanan (Financial Communications)
Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Watson / Hannah Ratcliff	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
	[email protected]

 

Notes to Editors:

Anexo is a specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider.  The Group has created a unique business model by combining a direct capture Credit Hire business with a wholly owned Legal Services firm.  The integrated business targets the impecunious not at fault motorist, referring to those who do not have the financial means or access to a replacement vehicle.

Through its dedicated Credit Hire sales team and network of over 1,100 active referrers around the UK, Anexo provides customers with an end-to-end service including the provision of Credit Hire vehicles, assistance with repair and recovery, and claims management services.  The Group’s Legal Services division, Bond Turner, provides the legal support to maximise the recovery of costs through settlement or court action as well as the processing of any associated personal injury claim.

The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in June 2018 with the ticker ANX.

For additional information please visit: www.anexo-group.com. To subscribe to our investor alert service and receive all press releases, financial results and other key shareholder messages as soon as they become available, please visit: https://www.anexo-group.com/content/investors/alert.asp.