Xftseallworld1c Regulatory News (ALLG)

All Leisure group PLC

AGM Statement

At its Annual General Meeting held today in London at 10.30 am, Roger Allard, Executive Chairman of All Leisure group PLC (AIM:ALLG), the provider of cruises and escorted tours into the over-55 English speaking market, gave the following update:

"Since our preliminary results in February 2013, we have continued to reorganise our business as planned which will result in the closure of our Burgess Hill office at the end of the month. A number of staff including senior management have or will be leaving the company in the near future. These include two main Board Directors, Rob Bryant and Neil Morris. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all affected staff across the Group for their hard work and wish them well in the future.

Whilst trading is still challenging, we now envisage greater synergy savings in the future than originally outlined, although there will be additional costs associated with this in order to receive further benefits. We will update the market when appropriate.

Winter trading is in line with budget and in these difficult times booking patterns are changing and we are experiencing a greater number of late bookings across the Group.

Cruising

Voyages of Discovery's mv Voyager is due back in the UK today after circumnavigating South America. Swan Hellenic's mv Minerva is visiting the Greek Isles and is due to return to the UK in the latter part of next month. Hebridean Princess commenced its Spring/Summer programme sailing around the Scottish Isles. mv Discovery, operating under a joint venture with Cruise & Maritime, will be departing from various English ports until the Autumn. Unfortunately, after an extensive dry dock its first cruise was cancelled, although it is now operating its scheduled programme and is currently on a round UK cruise. 

Tour Operating

Travelsphere has had a satisfactory winter and, as already indicated, the booking pattern is becoming later and later.

Just You, our singles brand, continues to grow and as a result of customer feedback, additional destinations have been added to the portfolio.

Discover Egypt's programme is still suffering from the continued unrest in the region. However, it still had a satisfactory winter result, despite carrying fewer passengers year-on-year. As it did last summer, Discover Egypt has made no commitment for Summer 2013 on accommodation or flying in light of the ongoing economic uncertainties in the UK. 

As in previous years, we have entered into various financial instruments to hedge over 90% of our currency exposure for the current year and have covered approximately one third of our fuel requirements.

Looking forward, there is a lot still be done on both cruising and escorted tours in this late booking market, as well as maximising the benefits of the synergies that we are securing.

Since the start of the year, the Group has been focused on rationalising our overheads and this process is proceeding well. We look forward to 2014 and receiving the full benefits of these synergies. 

Finally, our sincere thanks go to all staff across the Group and for their hard work in these challenging times."

Enquiries:

All Leisure group PLC

Roger Allard, Chairman 01444 462111

Chris Gadsby Finance Director 01858 588216

Broker and Nominated Adviser: Panmure Gordon Limited

Andrew Godber/Adam Pollock 0207 886 2500

Financial Public Relations: Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Ginny Pulbrook/Lindsay Noton 0207 638 9571