4th Oct 2006 07:00
Innovation Group PLC04 October 2006 For Immediate Release 4 October 2006 THE INNOVATION GROUP PLC Trading Update and Board Change The Innovation Group (the "Group"), which provides outsourcing services andsoftware solutions to the world's insurance markets, today announces a tradingupdate for the year ended 30 September 2006. The Board is pleased to report that it expects Group results for the year ended30 September 2006 to be consistent with its overall expectations. The Groupexperienced strong organic growth in both adjusted profits and revenue, withrecurring revenues growing significantly in line with our strategy. Outsourcinghad an excellent year, demonstrating significant organic growth as salesincreased to both existing and new clients. Software also performed well,delivering solid organic growth, underpinned by the signing of new contracts andthe successful execution of key milestones. The Group intends to announce its results for the year on 29 November 2006. Paul Smolinski, Group Finance Director, has agreed with the board that duringthe early part of calendar year 2007 he will leave the company to pursue anopportunity which better fits with his future personal ambitions. Paul will workclosely with the Board to find a suitable replacement to ensure a smoothtransition and this process is already under way. The Board would like to thankPaul for his invaluable contribution to the Group over the past four and a halfyears. Enquiries: The Innovation Group plc 01489 898300Hassan Sadiq, Chief Executive Officer Paul Smolinski, Group Finance DirectorSmithfield 020 7360 4900Sara Musgrave/ Tania Wild Notes to editors: At the Innovation Group, we provide outstanding depth into the insurance valuechain and leverage our software and outsourcing expertise to devise a solutiondesigned for maximum impact. Our clients-insurers, banks, retailers,manufacturers and government-have the flexibility to choose how to use oursolutions and offerings. From outsourcing to insourcing to licencing software inthe world's largest insurance markets, including North America, the U.K.,Germany, South Africa, Australia and Japan, our clients use our expertise togenerate positive change within their organisation and on their bottom-line. The Group's proposition is modular, offering a range of solutions from 'buildingblocks' for step change to complete solutions for radical transformation. Wework with clients to generate new products and support their sales, employingour call centres to convert prospects into policyholders, and our software toquote and manage these policies moving forward. In the event of an incident-beit home, auto or manufacturer warranty-our call centres, claims professionalsand software manage every step of the claims process to realise greaterefficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and higher profits. Key market facts: • BPO Market to grow to $110 Billion in North America by 2009. The growth of the BPO market continues to outpace other IT services. In North America, BPO will grow by an 8.8 per cent compound annual growth rate by 2009. (Gartner 2005) • Due to the high systems maintenance costs of mature insurance organisations, only 30 per cent of IT budgets are available for developing new systems and technologies to improve business support. (Gartner, 2005) • Two of the top five priorities of these insurers are regulatory compliance and cost containment. (Forrester Research, 2005) • 79 per cent of insurers polled are planning to or are currently executing system consolidation in the next 12 months to address critical issues. (Forrester Research, 2005) • Of those planning system consolidation, 55 per cent are planning to address policy systems; 48 per cent are expected to address claims systems. (Forrester Research, 2005) • Claims system replacement is more prevalent in the US P&C insurance industry. Research shows that 35 per cent of insurers are assessing this approach versus 22 per cent of insurers that are simply renovating their existing system. This trend is being fuelled by the advancement in the vendor market and need to deploy solutions rapidly. (Gartner, 2005) This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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