ACE.L Regulatory News (ACE)

28 Apr 2005 07:01

Accident Exchange Group PLC28 April 2005 28 April 2005 Accident Exchange Group Plc ('Accident Exchange' or 'the Group') Pre-Close Trading Update The Board of Accident Exchange is pleased to provide the following update ontrading in advance of its preliminary results for the twelve months ending 30April 2005. In the past 12 months the rate of growth enjoyed by the Group has beensignificant in every key metric. The Board is pleased to announce that itexpects full year results to meet market expectations. We attribute much of our growth to the strategic initiative which we implementedduring the first half of the year. This was intended to increase theeffectiveness of our sales resource and help them identify and win targeted newaccounts whilst also developing the skills and focus of our business supportteam to retain and strengthen relationships with those accounts whom we alreadyprovide with service. A year ago the Group operated a fleet of just 225 vehicles and management had aninitial budget expectation of attaining a fleet size of 397 vehicles by the endof April 2005. In November 2004 as a direct result of business levels being farbetter than forecast in the first half of the year, the Group reported a fleetsize of 586 vehicles against an already revised year end expectation of 690vehicles. In December, a further upward revision was made with an expectationthat the rental fleet would reach a figure between 800 and 850 vehicles by theyear end. During this period, we were pleased to welcome Martin Andrews to the Board asFinance Director bringing significant experience to the Group in this period ofrapid growth. We are delighted to report that our fleet now stands at 926 vehicles and thatthe operational utilisation of the fleet has remained in line with managementexpectations throughout the year. We are encouraged to report that the introduction of a tracking system tomonitor vehicle movements has helped improved fleet utilisation by 8.86%year-on-year. Trading during the second half of the year has continued to prove robust withthe total number of hire starts some 175% higher in the second half than thefirst. The Group has reported a number of key contract wins during the year andwe are in advanced stages of discussions with a number of other dealer groups.We hope to report further progress soon but the Directors remain confident thatthe growth outlook for the Group in 2006 remains positive. Finally, we are also pleased to announce that during April 2005 we have beenhonoured by the prestigious "Institute of Transport Managers" with the award for"Accident Management Specialist of the Year." Not only is this recognition ofthe hard work and effort of our employees, but is also confirmation and praisefor the unique and distinct service offering we deliver to our customers. Steve Evans, Chief Executive of Accident Exchange said:"As we enter our second financial year of trading on AIM we are optimistic aboutthe Company's prospects. Given the quality of our people and the strength of ourproducts and service and our current level of trading, together with our healthypipeline of new business prospects and the level of organic growth we havedemonstrated that we can generate from our account base, we look forward to 2006with confidence of delivering another year of significant growth." ends For more information please contact: Steve Evans, Chief Executive, Accident Exchange Group plcTel: 08700 116719 Martin Andrews, Finance Director, Accident Exchange Group plcTel: 08700 053649 Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg, Financial DynamicsTel: 020 7831 3113 Notes to Editors About Accident Exchange Accident Exchange was formed in 2001 to provide ABI (Association of BritishInsurers) approved car hire on credit to motorists of prestige cars involved innon-fault accidents. Having listed on AIM in April 2004, the Company has grown its car rental fleetrapidly from 250 to over 800. The Company reported maiden interim results forthe period ended 31st October 2004. Turnover increased significantly to £7.670million (2003: £1.136 million, profit before taxation was up to £2.133 million(2003: £0.303 million, profit before taxation and goodwill amortisation was upto £2.461 million (2003: £0.303 million), with earnings per share up to 2.3p(2003: 0.4p). The Company recommended its first interim dividend of 0.5p (2003:nil). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange