Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksAPP.L Regulatory News (APP)

  • There is currently no data for APP

AGM Statement

21 Sep 2010 08:53

RNS Number : 0220T
Park Group PLC
21 September 2010
 



 

For immediate release: 21 September 2010

 

Park Group plc

("Park" or "the Company")

AGM Statement

 

At the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held today at 12 noon Peter Johnson, Chairman of Park Group plc, will make the following statement:

 

"At the time of the Results Statement in June, I commented that the current year has started well with both the Corporate voucher and the Christmas savings businesses ahead of the comparable period 12 months earlier. I am pleased to report that this is indeed the case and that this progress has been continued. 

 

In March 2010 we announced that the UK Financial Services Authority had authorised Park to issue electronic money, which would be used to operate flexecash®, our new prepaid card. The launch of this innovative product commenced in June and it is being introduced progressively to our existing markets. Early indications are positive with many clients including The Family Fund, a government funded charity which supports families with disabled children, AXA Insurance Services, Lloyds TSB, Michelin, Standard Life and VW Commercial Vehicles purchasing cards.

 

Our Corporate voucher business has maintained last year's strong performance with sales ahead by 38 per cent compared with the same period last year and new business is up by 10 per cent. This reflects the strength of our sales campaign and breadth of product offering, which is tailored to meet individual customer requirements.

 

The Christmas savings business is also performing well with orders currently up 10 per cent, building on the improvement of last year, which saw a significant rise in operating profit. In addition to developing its own client base the prepaid flexecash® card is opening up a number of exciting opportunities for the savings business. A range of product specific flexecash® cards such as Furniture, Jewellery, Technology and Toy cards have been introduced in the 2011 catalogue. Our savings customers are already aware of the flexecash® card having placed orders for £8 million of the love2shop card for the coming Christmas.

 

The online business, which serves both the Corporate voucher and Christmas savings operations, continues to grow. An increasing number of customers choose to harness the efficiency and convenience of the internet to manage their relationship with Park, which has helped us to improve customer service and reduce costs. Online voucher sales via highstreetvouchers.com are 70 per cent ahead of the same period last year.

 

In August 2010 Park announced that the company had received a VAT refund, principally in respect of an over-declaration of output tax covering the period 1978 to 1996.

 

In this announcement it was noted that Park expected to receive a further amount in respect of statutory interest in due course. I am pleased to confirm that this has now been received bringing the total amount received in respect of this claim to just over £4.7 million. After professional fees the net amount received of £4.4 million has been added to the Group's cash balances, which are currently in excess of £116 million, an increase of 28% year on year, providing further evidence of the robustness of Park Group's finances.

 

Given the seasonal nature of Park's business the majority of its sales are delivered in the second half. Nevertheless, the first half of the year is also extremely important as most orders for the year are booked in that period.

 

The Board is pleased with progress made in this regard and is confident that, unforeseen circumstances aside, we will be reporting another sound trading performance at the half year."

 

For further information please contact:

 

Park Group plc

Arden Partners plc

Tavistock Communications

Peter Johnson / Chris Houghton

Fred Walsh / Matthew Armitt

John West / Paul Young

Tel: 0151 653 1700

Tel: 020 7614 5917

Tel: 020 7920 3150

 

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
AGMKMGZLNMZGGZG
Date   Source Headline
22nd Sep 200511:33 amRNSEPT Disclosure
20th Sep 200511:58 amRNSAGM Statement
14th Sep 200511:04 amRNSEPT Disclosure
14th Sep 200510:48 amRNSAdditional Listing
5th Sep 20053:52 pmRNSHolding in Company
14th Jul 200510:23 amRNSEPT Disclosure
8th Jul 200511:36 amRNSInkosi prospect right granted
5th Jul 20059:30 amRNSLeeuwkop 3D survey completed
27th Jun 200510:47 amRNSEPT Disclosure
21st Jun 20058:44 amRNSAdditional Listing
17th Jun 200511:46 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
15th Jun 20054:31 pmRNSHolding in Company
15th Jun 20052:46 pmRNSHolding in Company
13th Jun 20054:53 pmRNSHolding in Company
13th Jun 20057:30 amRNSPositive prefeasibility study
10th Jun 200512:13 pmRNSEPT Disclosure
9th Jun 200510:58 amRNSEPT Disclosure
9th Jun 20057:00 amRNSFinal Results
2nd Jun 20054:04 pmRNSAdditional Listing
31st May 200510:27 amRNSGears up for US listing
27th May 200511:32 amRNSEPT Disclosure
26th May 20059:30 amRNSEdmonds and Groves retire
25th May 20052:27 pmRNSChange of Name
23rd May 200511:29 amRNSEPT Disclosure
20th May 200512:17 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
20th May 200511:52 amRNSEPT Disclosure
18th May 20059:09 amRNSAdditional Listing
5th May 200512:24 pmRNSAdditional Listing
25th Apr 20053:42 pmRNSFirst drill results on Imbasa
21st Apr 20053:23 pmRNSNotice of EGM
20th Apr 20052:51 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company
13th Apr 20052:10 pmRNSAdditional Listing
7th Apr 20051:30 pmRNSProposed name change
5th Apr 200512:15 pmRNSCompany to list on AMEX
4th Apr 200512:00 pmRNSMineral Resource Update
22nd Mar 200512:01 pmRNSEMM Disclosure
21st Mar 200511:32 amRNSEMM Disclosure
10th Mar 20057:01 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
7th Mar 20057:02 amRNSHolding(s) in Company
24th Feb 200510:57 amRNSEMM Disclosure
17th Feb 20052:36 pmRNSAdditional Listing
15th Feb 20053:36 pmRNSNorth Sound increases holding
14th Feb 20055:14 pmRNSRubicon increases holding
7th Feb 20057:00 amRNSDrilling Report
11th Jan 200511:37 amRNSAdditional Listing
10th Jan 200510:38 amRNSEMM Disclosure
7th Jan 20054:47 pmRNSHolding(s) in Company

Due to London Stock Exchange licensing terms, we stipulate that you must be a private investor. We apologise for the inconvenience.

To access our Live RNS you must confirm you are a private investor by using the button below.