Last checked at 20 Sep 2018 07:00
20 September 2018
Begbies Traynor Group plc
AGM Statement
Trading Update
Begbies Traynor Group plc ("the group"), the business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy, is today holding its Annual General Meeting. Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman, will make the following statement:
"Last year was a year of further progress in developing the group, as we continued to deliver earnings growth reflecting the benefit of the strategic investments we have made in recent years. During the year, we completed the acquisitions of Springboard Corporate Finance and CJM Asset Management and we launched BTG Advisory which brought together our restructuring, financial advisory, corporate finance, forensic and investigation teams.
"Levels of activity in the insolvency market have increased in the current calendar year. Government insolvency statistics* report a 6% increase in the underlying number of corporate insolvency appointments to 7,915 appointments for the six months to June 2018 compared to 7,462 in the same period of 2017.
"Group trading for the first quarter of the current financial year is in line with our expectation for the year as a whole, with revenue growth in the quarter generated from our recent acquisitions. The benefits of our ongoing organic investments in the business, which include senior fee earners across both divisions, are expected to be realised incrementally during the remainder of the year.
"Overall, we anticipate continuing our track record of earnings growth in the current financial year, as we expect to benefit from an improving market for our counter-cyclical activities whilst seeking to continue to increase our market share through our investments for growth. In addition, Springboard and CJM will make their first full year contributions to the group.
"Our strong financial position also leaves us well placed to continue to invest in further opportunities, in line with our strategy to grow both organically and through selective acquisitions.
"We will next update on current trading with our half year results in December 2018."
*Source: The Insolvency Service quarterly statistics on a seasonally adjusted basis, excluding the one-off effect of 475 (2017: 18) bulk insolvencies as identified by the Insolvency Service.
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Enquiries please contact:
Begbies Traynor Group PLC 0161 837 1700
Ric Traynor - Executive Chairman
Nick Taylor - Group Finance Director
Canaccord Genuity Limited 020 7523 8350
(Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
Sunil Duggal / Chris Connors
Shore Capital 020 7408 4090
(Joint Broker)
Mark Percy / Anita Ghanekar
MHP Communications 020 3128 8572
Reg Hoare / Katie Hunt / Giles Robinson
Further information on Begbies Traynor Group can be accessed via the Group's website at www.begbies-traynorgroup.com