Begbies Regulatory News (BEG)

22 May 2023

Begbies Traynor Group plc 

Year end trading update

Notice of full year results

Results expected to be ahead of market expectations

Begbies Traynor Group plc (the 'company' or the 'group'), the business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy, announces an update on trading for its financial year ended 30 April 2023.

Summary

· Results expected to be ahead of market expectations* which represents double digit growth on the prior year:

o  Revenue** expected to increase by c.11% to c.£122m (2022: £110m)

o  Adjusted PBT** expected to increase by c.16% to c.£20.7m (2022: £17.8m)

· Maintains strong track record of growth in both revenue and profitability, with a continued improvement in profit margins in the year

· Net cash** of £3m at 30 April 2023 (2022: £5m), having made acquisition and earn out payments of £11m in the year

* Market expectations (as compiled by the company):

Revenue £117.7m-£121.5m (consensus £120.6m), Adjusted PBT of £19.7m-£20.6m (consensus £20.3m),

Net debt of £0.3m-£2.5m (consensus £1.4m)

** All numbers in this statement subject to audit

Divisional performance

Business recovery and financial advisory

· Strong financial performance with segmental revenue growth of c.10%

o  Good organic growth (c.6%) in business recovery activities

o  First time contribution from the Mantra Capital acquisition in July 2022

· Good momentum in new insolvency appointments in the year

o  Significant increase in higher value cases, reflecting our enhanced reputation in mid-market insolvencies in recent years

o  Strong growth in insolvency order book gives confidence in continuing our recent track record of growth

· Market-leading insolvency positions maintained (by volume of appointments):

o  13% share of the overall market - ranked first nationally

o  11% share of administration market - ranked second nationally

· Insolvency market volumes continued to increase over the course of the financial year, reflecting

o  Increased liquidations which, as previously reported, have exceeded pre-pandemic levels; and

o  Increased administrations (typically larger cases) which remain below historic levels but are higher than the post-pandemic lows of calendar 2021

· Challenges for UK businesses are expected to continue to support growth in the insolvency market

· Advisory services performed well

o  Finance broking teams had a good year with Mantra Capital performing in line with expectations in its first nine months in the group

o  Corporate finance deal completions gave a strong end to the financial year

Property advisory and transactional services

· Good financial performance with segmental revenue growth of c.12% driven by current year acquisitions (Budworth Hardcastle - June 2022 and Mark Jenkinson & Co - March 2023) together with the full year benefit of prior year acquisitions

· Resilient organic performance (c.3% revenue growth) reflecting the defensive nature of the majority of our property service lines in a challenging marketplace

Liquidity

· Net cash** of £3m at 30 April 2023 (2022: £5m), having made acquisition and earn out payments of £11m in the year

· HSBC facilities* extended to 31 August 2024

o  Significant headroom in facilities to fund organic investment and acquisition opportunities

* Facilities comprise a £25m unsecured, committed revolving credit facility together with a £5m uncommitted acquisition facility

Notice of results

The group will report its final results for the year ended 30 April 2023 on Tuesday 11 July 2023. There will be an analyst presentation at 9.00am on the day in London. Please contact begbies@mhpc.com or on 020 3128 8567 if you would like to receive details.

Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman of Begbies Traynor Group plc, commented:

"We performed strongly in the financial year, with results ahead of market expectations, aided by our increased scale and enhanced reputation in mid-market insolvency.

"We have further developed our range of services, extending both our financial advisory business and property advisory services through earnings accretive acquisitions principally funded by strong cash generation.

"Our strong financial position leaves us well placed to continue to invest in the business, both organically and through acquisitions, to continue building our scale and range of complementary services.

"We have started the new year confident in our outlook for a further year of growth. Our insolvency team will benefit from their recent insolvency appointments, together with anticipated further growth in the insolvency market. We continue to identify growth opportunities for our advisory and property teams, including the recently announced acquisition of Banks Long & Co."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.

The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Begbies Traynor Group plc is Nick Taylor, its Group Finance Director

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)

Emma Gabriel / Patrick Dolaghan

Shore Capital 020 7408 4090

(Joint Broker)

Malachy McEntyre / Mark Percy / Anita Ghanekar / James Thomas

MHP 020 3128 8567

Reg Hoare / Katie Hunt / Pauline Guenot begbies@mhpgroup.com

Information on Begbies Traynor Group can be accessed via the group's website atir.begbies-traynorgroup.com