17th Sep 2019 11:54
(Alliance News) - Personal Group Holdings PLC on Tuesday reported solid progress for the first half of 2019 but said delays in the launch of a new Sage Employee Benefits software product will result in reduced earnings for 2019.
The employee benefits and services provider, however, added revenue and pretax profit for 2019 remain in line with market forecasts.
Shares in Personal Group were trading 4.2% lower at 365.00 pence each on Tuesday.
For the first half to June 30, the company traded in line with management's expectations, with the core insurance business continuing to perform well, although new client acquisition has been slower than expected.
Pretax profit for the interim period increased 5.6% year-on-year to GBP4.1 million from GBP3.9 million a year ago. Revenue jumped 42% to GBP30.0 million from GBP21.1 million, driven by a strong performance in the SaaS business, including Innecto and PG Let's Connect, alongside a slightly weaker performance from the insurance business.
The core insurance business posted revenue of GBP15.2 million for the period, slightly lower than GBP15.6 million a year ago. Pretax profit fell 19% to GBP3.4 million.
First-half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations fell by 5.0% to GBP4.5 million, predominantly due to increased costs, including in sales and marketing activities.
Personal Group maintained its dividend policy, with dividends up 1.3% to 11.65 pence per share. The company, as previously announced, is slated to pay a third dividend for 2019 of 5.825p on September 20 to shareholders on the register on August 9.
"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," said Personal Group Chief Executive Deborah Frost.
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