magic16 Feb 2012 16:20
Resources in Insurance Group (RIIG) is trading profitably after cutting losses last year, says chairman John French. The AIM-quoted company, which provides claims management and consultancy services for UK insurers, lost £549,300 on £1.5 million turnover in 2009 and, having halved 2010's first half loss to £150,500 on turnover up by a third to £925,150, says its results for the whole of last year will show a further loss reduction.
In an upbeat trading statement, French, for years an active figure on the small quoted company scene, is clear that RIIG, which began life as online loss adjuster The Claims People, made a profit in the first quarter of this year. He cites an inflow of new business and two new products, 'Verify', which tests claims' validity for loss adjusters, and 'Surety Claims', covering post-accident replacement vehicle credit hire.
Having exited from volatile loss adjusting itself a few years ago and focused on 'i-team', its claims management service for major insurers, RIIG reckons these complementary new services stand it in further good stead with large insurance companies as they increasingly pare themselves down to their core businesses and outsource the rest. The company, which raised £294,550 before expenses in December at 40p from investors including Bob Morton's Guernsey-based Hawk Investment Holdings, is debt-free after the conversion of a £100,000 loan into shares by investment group Bluehone.
French says RIIG has been 'through a lot of blood, sweat and tears' over the past few years to achieve profitability and claims 'we are now in very exciting times.' Acquisitions are not on the cards yet, but they could come into focus once the company has established its profitability.
The shares have risen from 0.28p to 0.89p over the past year, at one point touching 1.08p, and value the company at £2.8 million.That is still a long way from The Claims People's 8p float price 11 years ago, but RIIG is moving in the right direction and should make further progress.
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