ACE.L Regulatory News (ACE)

31 Mar 2005 13:32

Accident Exchange Group PLC31 March 2005 31 March 2005 Accident Exchange Group plc Agreement with The Cooper Group Ltd ("The Cooper Group") Accident Exchange Group plc ("Accident Exchange"), the leading prestige vehiclereplacement company, has today signed binding Heads of Agreement with The CooperGroup for the provision of credit hire and business support services to theircustomers across their 8 BMW dealerships in Banstead, Cobham, Croydon, Reading,Sevenoaks, Thames Ditton, Tunbridge Wells and Wimbledon. The Cooper Group Ltd is one of the largest BMW retailers in the UK, with eightprestigious dealerships extending from Reading, across London, and into Kent.The agreement signed today includes the provision by Accident Exchange ofreplacement BMW and Mini vehicles to The Cooper Group's customers, followingroad traffic accidents. The Heads of Agreement will run for a maximum period of three months whilst thefinal contract terms and service level agreements are ratified. AccidentExchange has purchased 42 BMW vehicles today and, on exchange of the finalcontract, expects to commit to the purchase of a further 202 vehicles. It isexpected that the final agreement will be signed before expiry of the bindingHeads of Agreement. Steve Evans, Chief Executive of Accident Exchange said: "This is an account win with great significance and we are looking forward tobuilding and developing our relationship with The Cooper Group. The initialvehicle purchase commitment of 42 vehicles will ensure that we have the capacityto cope with the increased demand which will be generated from today. "The Cooper Group is a nationally known supplier of BMW and Mini vehicles with atremendously strong geographical footprint and we are extremely pleased to havewon the opportunity to deliver our service offering to a wider customer base. "Prior to this agreement, our rental fleet stood at 805 vehicles and we areconfident that the agreement helps underpin the current expectations for thegrowth in our fleet size through to 2006." Ends For more information please contact: Steve Evans, Chief Executive Accident Exchange Group plc Tel: 08700 116719 Martin Andrews, Finance Director Accident Exchange Group plc Tel: 08700 053 649 Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg Financial Dynamics, Tel: 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