Corporate News

“Significant revenue and profit growth with unchanged outlook for the year”

Anexo Group plc (AIM: ANX), the specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider, is pleased to report its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (‘H1 2023’ or the ‘period’).

Download To view a full version of the results in  PDF format  click here

Financial Highlights

	H1 2023	H1 2022	Movement
Revenue	£77.8 million	£68.6 million	+13.4%
Operating profit	£19.3 million	£16.1 million	+19.9%
Profit before tax	£15.2 million	£13.6 million	+11.8%
Cash collection	£77.4 million	£67.9 million	+14.0%
Basic EPS	8.6 pence	9.3 pence	-7.5%

•  A significant reduction in Net Debt (including lease liabilities) was reported in the period (£11.9 million). Net Debt as at 30 June 2023 stood at £61.2 million (30 June 2022: £74.2 million, 31 December 2022: £73.1 million).
• Cash collections from settled cases increased 14% to £77.4 million (H1 2022: £67.9 million), excluding the legal fees associated with the Volkswagen AG (‘VW’) Emissions Claim.
• The Group generated £15.7 million in Net Cash from Operating Activities (H1 2022: Net Cash Used in Operating Activities: £5.1 million), a total improvement of £20.8 million.
• Revenue increased 13% to £77.8 million (H1 2022: £68.6 million), reflecting the agreement reached in the VW Emissions Claim and increased legal fee income from both Credit Hire and Housing Disrepair (“HDR”) claim settlements.
• Operating profit increased 19% to £19.3 million (H1 2022: £16.1 million) due to improved cash collections from all divisions in addition to the proceeds of the VW agreement, whilst the number of new credit hire cases has been actively managed.

Operational Highlights

• The Group has shown robust growth within legal services, driving the increase seen in cash collections. HDR continues to be an ever-increasing element, with revenues increasing by over 25%. The HDR division settled 884 claims in H1 2023 (H1 2022: 556) and now has a portfolio of 3,291 claims (H1 2022: 2,218).
• The results for the period include the agreement reached in the VW emissions case. The terms of the agreement are subject to confidentiality restrictions. The Group announced on 5 June 2023 that the agreement had resulted in a net positive cash position to Anexo of £7.2 million.
• The Group continued its investment in litigation concerning the Mercedes Benz Emissions Claim, with a total of over 12,000 claimants now forming part of the group action.
• Vehicle numbers continued to be carefully managed to maximise efficient use of working capital, supporting the significant reduction in Net Debt. Strong growth is forecast for H2 2023 resulting from a steady increase in vehicle numbers.
• The average number of Group vehicles on the road in H1 2023 reached 1,634, some 20% below that seen in H1 2022 (2,034). Vehicle numbers at 18 August 2023 totalled 1,795.

KPIs	H1 2023	H1 2022	Movement
Cash collections from settled cases (£’000s)	77,413	67,931	+14.0%
Number of hire cases settled	4,369	3,563	+22.6%
Number of new hire cases funded	4,920	5,082	-3.2%
Completed vehicle hires	4,689	5,501	-14.8%
Number of vehicles on hire at period end	1961	1947	+0.1%
Legal staff employed at period end	690	633	+9.0%
Number of HDR cases at period end	3,291	2,218	+48.4%
Number of HDR cases settled	884	556	+59.0%

Commenting on the Interim Results, Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman of Anexo Group plc, said:

“The Board has been focused on delivering a meaningful reduction in net debt and increasing cash collections during the first half of the year. The results presented here are testament to the quality of our people, the ever-increasing diversity of the Group’s activities and our commitment to investment into future growth and opportunities for the business.

“We are immensely proud to be able to offer social justice and full legal support to our clients and members of the public. Anexo provides assistance to people who find themselves in an invidious position through no fault of their own, whether through being deprived of an essential vehicle or through living in substandard housing conditions, along with the other problems which may be exacerbated by such situations. We remain committed to providing help to those who might otherwise be unable to obtain redress.

“Having demonstrated our ability to drive the business for cash generation, we are expecting growth in vehicle numbers, revenues and profits in the second half of the year, without the need to fund this growth from our current debt facilities. As cash collections continue to increase, we will be able to invest further and drive growth across all our divisions including HDR and emissions claims.

“The strong progress being made in HDR and group emissions litigation underpins the forecast growth in the core business. The Board remains confident of meeting market expectations for the year.”

Results Conference Call

An analyst conference call will be held at 09:30 BST today, 22 August 2023. Retail investors will also be able to listen to the call but will not be eligible to ask questions. A copy of the Interim Results presentation is available at the Group's website: https://www.anexo-group.com/. Please contact Nick Dashwood Brown, Head of Investor Relations, at [email protected] if you would like to join the call.

An audio webcast of the conference call with analysts will be available after 12:00 BST today on the Company’s website: www.anexo-group.com

 

For further enquiries:

Anexo Group plc	+44 (0) 151 227 3008 www.anexo-group.com
Alan Sellers, Executive Chairman Mark Bringloe, Interim Chief Financial Officer Nick Dashwood Brown, Head of Investor Relations
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)
Chris Hardie / Hugh Morgan/ Darshan Patel (Corporate) Fraser Marshall / Harry Ansell (Broking)	+44 (0) 20 7220 1666 www.whirelandplc.com/capital-markets
Zeus (Joint Broker) David Foreman / Louisa Waddell (Investment Banking) Simon Johnson (Corporate Broking)	+44 (0) 20 3829 5000 www.zeuscapital.co.uk

 

Notes to Editors:

Anexo is a specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider. The Group has created a unique business model by combining a direct capture Credit Hire business with a wholly owned Legal Services firm. The integrated business targets the impecunious not at fault motorist, referring to those who do not have the financial means or access to a replacement vehicle.

Through its dedicated Credit Hire sales team and network of 1,100 plus active introducers around the UK, Anexo provides customers with an end-to-end service including the provision of Credit Hire vehicles, assistance with repair and recovery, and claims management services. The Group’s Legal Services division, Bond Turner, provides the legal support to maximise the recovery of costs through settlement or court action as well as the processing of any associated personal injury claim.

The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in June 2018 with the ticker ANX. For additional information please visit: www.anexo-group.com