ACE.L Regulatory News (ACE)

13 Nov 2006 07:01

Accident Exchange Group PLC13 November 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 13 November 2006 Accident Exchange Group Plc TRADING UPDATE FOR THE HALF YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2006 ANNOUNCEMENT DATE FOR INTERIM RESULTS Accident Exchange Group Plc ('Accident Exchange' or the 'Group'), a leading provider of accident management and other solutions to the automotive and insurance related sectors, announces a trading update for the six months ended 31 October 2006 and confirms the announcement date for the Interim Results. Trading Update We are pleased to report that October was a record month in terms of the number of claims handled and the number of hire starts. Rental days in the six months to 31 October 2006 represented an increase of 185% over the volumes for the six months ended 31 October 2005. This reflects the new referrer account wins over the last year, including major automotive dealership groups, automotive manufacturers, contract hire and leasing companies. Some of these have become contracted referrers relatively recently and are still in the 'roll out' phase. This broadening of the customer base will be reflected by an increasing proportion of lower margin, 'mainstream' referral volumes. The Board considers the Group's business to be seasonal in nature with the darker, wetter winter months (October through March) historically showing an uplift in trading levels due to increased accident rates, longer repair periods and hence longer hire periods per accident. In anticipation of this, development of the Group's infrastructure, personnel resource and fleet has continued during the first half of the current financial year. The Board therefore believes that the Group will benefit materially from an uplift in hire start activity in the second half of the financial year. Announcement date for Interim Results The Board confirms that the Interim Results for the six months to 31 October 2006 will be released on Wednesday 13 December 2006. Ends CONTACTS: Accident Exchange Group PlcSteve Evans, Chief Executive 08700-116 719Martin Andrews, Group Finance Director 08700-053 649 BanksideSteve Liebmann or Simon Bloomfield 020-7367-8888 About Accident Exchange Based in Coleshill, West Midlands, Accident Exchange delivers accident management and other solutions to automotive and insurance related sectors. The stock code is LSE: ACE. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange