30th Jul 2007 07:01
Homeserve Plc30 July 2007 HOMESERVE PLC 2007 AGM AND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Homeserve, which is holding its Annual General Meeting today at 10.00am, ispublishing the Group's first Interim Management Statement as required by the UKListing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules: The financial year has started in line with our expectations and we remainconfident of continued growth in the current year. Our UK policy business is preparing for its key marketing period, which will besupported by the new 600 seat call centre in Walsall which opened in June 2007. The pipeline of new business prospects in both the USA and Spain continues tobuild with increased interest from both water and power utilities. In the Emergency Services Division, the recent floods have led to increasedactivity in our disaster restoration and property repairs businesses, as werespond to the unprecedented demand from insurers to provide immediate supportto those householders who have been affected. This benefit is partly offset byreduced volumes in other trades, whilst domestic insurers focus on settlingflood-related claims, and in the UK Policy business by a small increase inclaims frequency under our domestic emergency utility policies. The positiveimpact of this increased activity is therefore not expected to be material inthe context of the Group as a whole. Material events and transactions and other events As previously announced, we completed the acquisition of the Anglia propertyrepair business and MultiMaster furniture warranty business in the firstquarter. Integration of these businesses into our Emergency Services andWarranties businesses respectively is on track and both are performing in linewith our expectations. Following the announcement on 21 May 2007, discussions with Domestic & Generalplc are ongoing although there can be no certainty that an offer or any othertransaction will result. A further announcement will be made in due course.These discussions are being tightly managed within Homeserve and are notdiverting resources from our core businesses. There have been no other material events since the start of the financial year. Prospects Overall, the business continues to perform well and the pipeline of futuregrowth opportunities remains strong. 30 July 2007 Enquiries: Homeserve plcBrian Whitty, Executive Chairman Tel: 01922 427900Jonathan Simpson-Dent, CFO TulchanAndrew Honnor Tel: 0207 353 4200Stephen Malthouse This Interim Management Statement has been drawn up and presented for thepurposes of complying with English law. Any liability arising out of or inconnection with this Interim Management Statement will also be determined inaccordance with English law. This Interim Management Statement may contain "forward-looking statements". Bytheir nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty becausethey relate to future events and circumstances. Many of these risks anduncertainties relate to factors beyond Homeserve's control or which cannot beestimated precisely, such as future market conditions and the behaviour of othermarket participants. Actual outcomes and results may therefore differmaterially from any outcomes or results expressed or implied by any suchforward-looking statements. Nothing in this Interim Management Statement is intended to be a profitforecast. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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