Corporate News

“Solid performance across all divisions with strong outlook for the future”

.Anexo Group plc (AIM: ANX), the specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider, announces its final results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the ‘period’ or ‘FY2023).

Note: The basis of preparation of the consolidated financial statements for the current and previous year is set out in the Financial Review below.

1. Including the impact of the agreement in the Emissions Case.

2. Adjusted operating profit and profit before tax: excludes share‑based payment charges in 2022. A reconciliation to reported (IFRS) results is included in the Financial Review below.

3. Adjusted EPS: adjusted PBT less tax at statutory rate divided by the weighted number of shares in issue during the year.

Overview and Financial and Operational KPIs

Following a year of consolidation for the Group’s core business in 2022, the early part of 2023 saw the Group continue its focus on the prudent management of fleet levels within its credit hire division, EDGE, whilst looking to grow the level of cash collections within its legal services division, Bond Turner. Cash collections improved throughout the year, deriving from credit hire claims, the agreement in the VW Emissions Case “Emissions Case”, housing disrepair claims and the serious injury and clinical and professional negligence “large loss” teams. The Group thereafter continued its investment in Bond Turner and also increase its activity within credit hire.

Bond Turner has continued to invest in good quality staff and related infrastructure and this is reflected in the overall rise in cash collections, which increased from £146.1 million in 2022 to £163.5 million in 2023. These derived not only from credit hire claims but also from the housing disrepair and large loss claim books. As these expand and claims reach settlement maturity, these additional teams have made meaningful contributions to Group performance in 2023 and will continue to do so into 2024 as investment in new claims and staff continues. Revenues for Legal Services increased from £63.6 million in 2022 to £88.6 million; this figure also reflects the impact of the agreement of the Emissions Case in the year. The growth in cash collections for the Group is more pleasing given the continued delays within the judicial system. The Group continues to experience extended delays, with many claims listed for trial being delayed and/or adjourned; this continues to impact on the cash received and overall profitability of the Group, particularly within Legal Services. It is encouraging to note however that the majority of the costs associated with these claims have already been incurred and expensed and that the conclusion of these claims is simply just held up temporarily due to the Court delays.

During 2023, the Group reached agreement with VW in relation to the diesel emissions case and the results for the year include the impact of this agreement, in which the Group acted for around 12,000 claimants. The terms of the agreement are subject to confidentiality restrictions. The Group announced on 5 June 2023 that the agreement had resulted in a net positive cash position to Anexo of £7.2 million.

Following this agreement, the Group has continued its investment in claims against other manufacturers including Mercedes Benz, Vauxhall, BMW/ Mini, Peugeot/Citroen and Nissan/Renault. During 2023 the Group invested a total of £4.3m in marketing, staff and other costs and at the end of 2023 had secured claims against Mercedes Benz (where court proceedings have been issued) from approximately 12,000 clients, and a further 24,000 claims against other manufacturers. These costs are included within Administrative Expenses in the Income Statement. Settlement of these claims is expected to significantly enhance revenue and profitability and cashflows although the timing of any negotiations remains uncertain.

Staff numbers within Bond Turner continued to grow, driving improvements in performance and cash collections with an increased focus on both developing our own staff but recruiting where necessary to increase settlement capacity. This growth was particularly notable within the housing disrepair and large loss teams, where staff numbers increased from 54 and 63 respectively at the end of 2022 to 69 and 77 at the end of 2023 (an increase of 27.8% and 22.2% respectively). Staff numbers in the legal services division reached a total of 702 in 2023, a 3.5% rise from 2022. Overall cash collections rose 11.9% to £163.5 million (2022: £146.1 million). This ongoing growth in staff will underpin further growth in cash collections in 2024, helped by the gradual reduction in the courts backlog.

The Credit Hire Division started 2023 with 1,730 vehicles on the road. This number grew to 1,961 by the end of the first half of the year, with average vehicle numbers over the first half reaching 1,634 as the Group concentrated on the effective management of activity levels. As a result, the Group reported a reduction in net debt in that period. Opportunities for new work continued to be buoyant with the Group accepting an increasing number of claims in the second half of the year, this was particularly evident in the latter months of 2023, traditionally a period of strong seasonality for the Group, where vehicles numbers increased sharply, reaching 2,409 at the end of 2023, with a second half average of 2,144. This had the effect of driving an improvement in profitability for the credit hire division in the second half of the year (profit before tax increased from £2.2 million in the first half year to £4.4 million in the second half year).

Whilst overall Credit Hire revenues for the full year reduced from £74.7 million in 2022 to £60.8 million in 2023, cash generation and our ability to manage claim volumes underlines the robust health of the core credit hire business and the continued demand for non-fault claims. A number of factors contributed to the decrease in revenue including; the weighting of new hires was heavier towards the end of 2023 meaning that the full extent of the revenue could not be realised before the end of 2023 as the hires continued past the year end, contributing revenue into 2024; general movements within the fleet including the redistribution of the proportion of bikes versus cars and a reduction in the average hire period between 2022 and 2023. 11,724 new credit hire claims were funded in 2023 and passed for recovery to the experienced legal team at Bond Turner, who have shown their strength in respect of increased cash collections.

The growth in vehicle activity, particularly towards the end of 2023, alongside the significant portfolio of claims within Legal Services, where much of the associated costs have been incurred and expensed, provide a strong platform for 2024 and beyond.  

Our ability to fund growth in our hire business has come from improving levels of cash collections, not only from an increase in credit hire claim settlements, which increased by 13.2% in the period reaching 8.967 in 2023 (2022: 7,922), but from an increase in case settlements achieved during the year from the housing disrepair and large loss teams (departments of legal services). In addition, the Group announced on 5 June 2023 that agreement in respect of the VW Emissions Case (‘Emissions Case’) had resulted in a net positive cash position to Anexo of £7.2 million; this figure takes into account the value retained in the Group from fees generated and payments associated with the agreement including the repayment of amounts due to funders. These movements demonstrate the investment made in both the current staff in terms of training and development and strategic hires from competitors. In 2023, the number of senior fee earners grew by 11.9% to reach 283 at the year end.

The Group has a number of opportunities for growth in 2024, not only from the current divisions but from wider opportunities in the legal services sector including the expansion of EDGE into providing credit hire vehicles to taxi drivers involved in non-fault accidents. The Board believes there are significant opportunities to manage the overall Group to ensure it maximises shareholder value by continuing to seize opportunities for growth as they present themselves without the need for significant increases in debt funding.

1. Revenues include the impact of the agreement of the Emissions Case.

Commenting on the Final Results, Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman of Anexo Group plc, said: "I am pleased to report a solid performance across all divisions. As always, we have managed our vehicle numbers effectively and sought to utilise our working capital as efficiently as possible. Cash collections continue to grow as a result of this strategy and we continue to invest in high quality staff.

The housing disrepair and large loss divisions continue to expand and play an increasingly important part in the development of the Group. We look forward to further developments in the ongoing Diesel Emissions class actions and continue to focus on effective cash management to maximise cash generation and create value for all our shareholders.”

Investor Briefing

Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman, and Mark Bringloe, CFO, will provide a live presentation relating to the Final Results Presentation via Investor Meet Company at 09:30 BST today.

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted at any time during the live presentation.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet ANEXO GROUP PLC via:

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/anexo-group-plc/register-investor

Investors who already follow ANEXO GROUP PLC on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.

Results presentation is available at the Group's website: https://www.anexo-group.com/ 

For further enquiries:

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 1,100 plus active introducers 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