Hansard Share News (HSD)

(Sharecast News) - Specialist long-term savings provider Hansard Global reported an improvement in new business sales to £155.9m in its final results on Thursday, from £146.6m a year earlier.
The AIM-traded firm said its IFRS profit after tax fell to £4.6m for the year ended 30 June, however, from £6.8m a year earlier, while its underlying profit was £6.1m, down from £8.6m.

It said its operating cash surplus for the period was £20.6m, down from £25m year-on-year, while IFRS earnings per share fell to 3.3p from 4.9p.

The board recommended a final dividend of 2.65p per share for the year, precisely in line with its distribution at the end of the 2018 financial year.

As at 30 June, Hansard's assets under administration stood at £1.08bn, up from £1.04bn year-on-year, while its reported value of in-force slipped to £140m from £144m.

"Our 2019 results reflect a year of change for the group, as we have refocused the business to deliver future growth," said chief executive officer Gordon Marr.

"In particular, in June 2019 we were granted our Japanese investment management licence, enabling us to operate in this key market.

"This was a major milestone and the culmination of a number of years of hard work."

Marr noted that the company also successfully launched its new insurance subsidiary, Hansard Worldwide, and streamlined the number of markets that it operated in and the distributors it used in those markets.

"Together with a major IT project to replace our back-office administration systems and a focus on cost efficiencies, we believe this offers a strong base to improve the profitability of the business in the coming years."