Response to Autumn Statement

RNS Number : 1034Q

Personal Group Holdings PLC

24 November 2016

 

Press Release

24 November 2016

Personal Group Holdings Plc

("the Company" or "the Group")

Response to Autumn Statement

Personal Group Holdings Plc [AIM: PGH] (or "Personal Group" or "the Company") notes the comments made in the Autumn Statement around future changes in salary sacrifice due in April 2017. Further clarification on the how these changes will be implemented will come from the publication of the Finance Bill on 5^th December 2016. 

The Company remains fully behind its Lets Connect business and does not believe the anticipated changes will impact the overall competitiveness of its Home Technology offering. A recent on-line survey of 4,000 end users of the Lets Connect offering showed that cost was ranked 5^th after convenience, absence of credit checks or upfront costs, affordability and trusted provisioning from their employer.

An area of impact will be on mobile phones (given previous tax advantages were removed on home technology a number of years ago) which only makes up approximately 10% of the Lets Connect business. Pleasingly, a transition period has been given for mobile phones through until April 2018 which means that all those currently enjoying the use of a mobile phone or taking delivery of a phone before 5^th April 2017 will be unaffected in the transition period.  

The core insurance business of the Group continues to perform in line with expectations. Despite a further 2% increase in Insurance Premium Tax due in June next year, the Board remain confident of the longevity of the product given its importance to so many employees around the country. 

The Company remains in line with expectations for full year profit and expects to announce its full year results in March 2017. 

Mark Scanlon, CEO, commented: "We welcome the clarity that the Autumn Statement brings to our Lets Connect business as it falls in line with the expectations as we understood them from the consultation published in August this year. 

"The Group's salary sacrifice offering becomes much simpler and easier to understand as much of the complexity is removed."

For more information please contact:

Personal Group Holdings Plc
Mark Scanlon / Mike Dugdale	[phone]

Cenkos Securities Plc
Max Hartley / Stephen Keys (Nomad)	[phone]
Russell Kerr (Sales)

 Media enquiries:

Abchurch Communications
Julian Bosdet / Tim Thompson / Rebecca Clube	[phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

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.

Notes to editors:

With over 30 years' experience of looking after its customers' employees, Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH) is a leading provider of employee benefits and employee related insurance products, offering benefits programmes to over 2 million employees across the UK.

Personal Group's innovative approach to using technology to deliver its programmes, combined with its face-to-face method of communicating with employees, makes its offering compelling to blue chip clients across the UK as a way of attracting, retaining and motivating employees.  The Group tailors its packages to include insurance products such as hospital and convalescence plans, death benefit and income protection plans, as well as lifestyle benefits such as holiday and retail discounts, health and wellbeing benefits and a range of tax efficient benefits.

Personal Group can also supply home technology via salary sacrifice through its subsidiary Let's Connect.  Offering the latest iPads and other tablets, home computers and laptops, smart phones and smart TVs is a highly engaging benefit from which both the employer and employee can profit. 

Personal Group has a strong client base across a range of sectors including transport, where it works with the likes of Network Rail, Stagecoach and EYMS Group Ltd, and healthcare, where clients include Four Seasons Health Care, Priory Group and Spire Healthcare.  The Group also covers logistics, with companies such as TNT Express and Bibby, and motoring with Manheim and JCT600 as clients.  In addition the Group also has a strong presence in food manufacturing and service and clients include 2 Sisters Food Group and Young's Seafood. 

With over 520 clients the Group has grown considerably and provides engaging and effective benefits packages across a breadth of sectors. 

For further information, please see www.personalgroup.com

 

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