Trading Update

RNS Number : 7659Z

Personal Group Holdings PLC

27 January 2022

 

27 January 2022

Personal Group Holdings plc

("the Company" or "Group")

Trading Update

Trading in line with expectations with encouraging rebound in insurance sales in H2

Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH), the workforce benefits and services provider, is pleased to provide the following update for the financial year ending 31 December 2021. The Company expects to publish its results for FY 2021, together with notification of its final dividend, on 29 March 2022.

Financial Highlights

· Overall trading for FY 2021 was in line with market expectations with revenue of approximately £75m (2020: £72m) and adjusted EBITDA of approximately £6m (2020: £10m).

· Robust balance sheet with cash position in excess of £22m as at 31 December 2021 (2020: £20.2m).

Operational Highlights

· A strong return to face-to-face insurance sales activity in H2, with good momentum from the Group's return into Royal Mail Group in line with the contract signed in the second half of 2020.

· 86 new client wins secured in the year across the Group and continued high levels of engagement with existing clients.

· Significantly progressed our offering with the onboarding of our first client onto our new product Hapiflex, a multifaceted version of the Group's core benefits digital platform, designed to meet the need of enterprise clients.

· Continued strong performance in H2 from our pay and reward consultancy business, Innecto.

· Our consumer technology benefits business, Let's Connect, held up well in challenging circumstances around stock availability.

· Sage Employee Benefits platform continued to go from strength to strength, with the number of SME clients rising from 30 to c1,500 over the year, delivering an increased gross Annual Recurring Revenue of £1.6m.

Despite a longer than anticipated lockdown in H1 and continued uncertainty throughout the year the Board believes that the Group's performance in FY21 is testimony to the resilience and continued relevance of the business model and growth strategy. Solid progress has been made in achieving the Group's strategic aim to widen its footprint to multiple sectors of the UK workforce, alongside continued investment in digital channels, putting the business on track for future growth.

Outlook

Our market has never been more relevant. In 2021 employers increasingly focussed their efforts on supporting their employees, thanks to an increasingly competitive job market together with a growing appreciation of an employers' responsibility to look after staff. This trend is set to continue accelerating into 2022.

This has been demonstrated in the good start we have made to the current financial year. Despite the disruption of the Omicron variant in the early part of January, our face-to-face insurance sales have continued unabated, and we have seen 11 new client wins across the Group.

With a strong balance sheet, quality customer base and leading technology platform we are well placed to capitalise on opportunities that arise as employee health and wellbeing rises further up the Board agenda and we look to the future with confidence.

Deborah Frost, Chief Executive of Personal Group, commented:

"I am delighted with what we achieved strategically in 2021 with each business division demonstrating its ongoing relevance to employers while continued innovation underpins faster and broader growth in the future. We have a diverse range of offerings available with propositions suitable for every type of UK business, whether that be a large enterprise, a public sector organisation, or an SME.

Looking forward, our growth ambitions remain front of our minds and we are pleased to have begun FY22 strongly with further new client wins and exciting partnerships in play. We have a compelling offering, a leading software platform and an excellent team in place and are fully focused on executing our plans to create value for all our stakeholders."

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Personal Group Holdings Plc
Deborah Frost (CEO) / Sarah Mace (CFO)		Via Alma PR
Cenkos Securities Plc
Camilla Hume / Callum Davidson (Nomad)		[phone]
Russell Kerr (Sales)
Alma PR		[phone]
Susie Hudson / Lily Soares Smith / Faye Calow		[e-mail]

Notes to Editors

Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH) is an employee benefits and services provider. The Group enables employers across the UK to improve employee engagement and support their people's physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing. Its vision is to create a brighter future for the UK workforce.

Personal Group provides health insurance services and a broad range of employee benefits, engagement, and wellbeing products. Its offerings can also be delivered through its proprietary app, Hapi, and the recently developed extension to the platform, Hapiflex.

The Group's growth strategy is centred around widening the footprint of the business into the SME, talent-led & Public Sectors, thereby expanding the addressable customer base. In addition, it aims to grow in its existing industrial heartlands, to re-invigorate growth in insurance policyholders and to drive the use of its SaaS offerings.

Clients include: Arsenal FC, Barchester Healthcare, Merseyrail, Randstad, Royal Mail Group, The Royal Mint, the Sandwell & Birmingham NHS Trust, Stagecoach Group plc., and The University of York. c.40% of clients are served by two or more group companies.

For further information on the Group please see www.personalgroup.com  

 

END

 

 

TSTPPUGGGUPPGRQ