Christie Regulatory News (CTG)

30 September 2019

Christie Group plc

Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2019

Christie Group plc ('Christie' or the 'Group'), the leading provider of Professional & Financial Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services to the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors, is pleased to announce its Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.

Key points:

·; First half revenues broadly flat at £38.1m (H1 2018: £38.4m)

·; First half operating profit in line with expectation at £1.5m (H1 2018: £2.0m)

·; Interim dividend maintained at 1.25p per share (H1 2018: 1.25p per share)

·; An increased pipeline of current and ongoing projects

·; We anticipate a stronger second half

Commenting on the results, David Rugg, Chairman and Chief Executive of Christie Group, said:

"Increased investment opportunities in our mid-market 'alternatives' business sectors is fuelling demand for our portfolio of services."

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc, quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 43 offices across the UK, Europe and Canada, catering to its specialist markets in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors.

Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional & Financial Services (PFS) and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PFS - Christie & Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Orridge, Venners and Vennersys.

Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long established reputation for offering essential services to client companies in agency, valuation services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the Group's core agency business.

For more information, please go to www.christiegroup.com.

Chairman and Chief Executive's review

Revenue for our first half of £38.1m was broadly flat against the corresponding period (H1 2018: £38.4m). Our operating profit, whilst reduced at £1.5m (H1 2018: £2.0m), was in line with our expectation and is related to success fees on a number of transactions being weighted to the second half.

Whilst overall business activity has proved encouraging, we have adopted a cautious approach to UK hiring whilst we await some certainty as to the political outcome.

Professional & Financial Services 

Since the 2018 period end the comparatively lower value of sterling has awakened international investment interest for our sectors in the UK. More positively, our core sectors are now recognised as a mainstream area for investors in operational real estate. Colloquially known as "alternative investments", yields have continued to compress and buyer appetite increase. This bodes well for the remainder of the year and into 2020. 

Our Care, Childcare and Medical team were awarded the prestigious Property Consultants of the Year, an industry recognition amongst 1,200 participants. The citation highlighted our breadth of reach and our commitment to ground-breaking research and market studies.

Christie & Co recently sold the London based group of the highly rated Little Garden Day Nurseries, founded 30 years ago by Lady Woodford-Hollick and her partner Ms. De-Zoysa. We sold Rainbow Day Nurseries, providing provision for 263 children, sold to Kids Planet, now a group of 41 settings. 

We are currently marketing 475 homes for 344 Care providers. Our due diligence work is significant, leaning on our market leading proprietary data set which now features over 81 million data points. 

In Dentistry we sold Metamorphosis Dental in London's Fulham, one of the UK's largest and most successful private orthodontic practices, to BUPA Dental Care. Already this year we have agreed the sale of over 135 pharmacies. Ahead of the sale of Papworth Pharmacy, Cambridgeshire, 16 offers were negotiated, resulting in a sale consideration in excess of the required price.

Greene King has recently announced that it has agreed to a recommended bid from a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong based CK Asset Holdings Ltd. Christie & Co has previously provided valuation advice to Greene King. We also achieved the sale of 18 pubs for Wadworth to Red Oak Taverns.

Through the competitive process mentioned in my AGM statement for the sale of the Days Hotel, Waterloo, we generated significant investor interest from a guide price of "Offers in excess of £50m", resulting in a successful sale. We have sold hostels in Newcastle and Liverpool to the Youth Hostel Association. In Liverpool we have now been mandated to sell the freehold investment of the National Horseracing College.

We have recently been instructed by Louvre Hotels to market a portfolio of eight hotels spread across the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. In France, we have advised on the ongoing acquisition of Hotel ibis Nice Palais des Congres Vieux Nice, for Easyhotels, as well as completing the sale of the Grand Tonic Hotel of Marseille.

Our advisory work has included advising Bain Capital and a number of other investment funds, including DK Partners, Deka, Hapimag and Blackrock, in their interest on varying NPL portfolios as well as in relation to individual assets in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Pinders continued its half century of operation with a bank review of a new build pool and functions facility to operate under a 'Water Babies' franchise. Pinders also advised Allcures Plc, an existing operator, in the acquisition of a group of ten pharmacies. Pinders identified a number of issues of which the purchaser was unaware, as a result of which the agreed asking price of £7.75m was substantially reduced, with a sale agreed in line with the valuation undertaken by Pinders and the purchase completed.

At Christie Finance 15% of our core business mortgage borrowers now also take an advance or tandem unsecured loan facility. Additionally, 14% of core borrowers took Life Assurance through Christie Insurance. Christie Insurance has seen an increased flood risk awareness of late and some clients requiring to cover higher stock holding levels, in case of any supply chain disruption. This is consistent with our Financial Services strategy of broadening the range of products we provide to each client.

Stock & Inventory Systems and Services

At Vennersys, our online ticketing and enterprise system supplier, recent new wins have been in Visitor Attractions and Family Entertainment Centres. Our market leading solutions are being repeatedly selected against our competitors. Planned installation already run to April 2020. Meanwhile our multi-site operators continue to expand their use of our system Venpos Cloud. 

Within Orridge, our UK retail stocktaking business has continued the implementation of its return to profit plan. However, almost full employment in the UK has exacerbated the difficulty of attracting and deploying casual workers and compliance with the evolving interpretation of casual worker regulation. A key focus has been the development of a systemised ability to advertise and target recruits by location. In the process we have rewritten our applicant capture systems to maximise reusable applicant information and drive an improvement in resourcing and productivity.

New client wins in the UK included warehouse counts for Manning Impex, while we have won additional work with Paydens in the Pharmacy sector. We continue to focus on the growth of our Supply Chain work and in mainland Europe we carried out stocktaking assignments in 14 countries. 

Following a record 2018, Venners continued its profit growth. Regional gains continued. New wins included The New World Trading Company and Michels & Taylor. We began work with another international hotel chain and should see a substantial amount of their estate on board by the end of this year. 

Venners till data risk analysis service enables us to highlight suspicious trading at our clients' premises. Our brand compliance consultancy surveys both franchised and managed operations. Whilst our on-line Health and Safety management central system creates a growing partnership.

Summary and Outlook

As already mentioned, we have a strong pipeline of activity. A more benign immigration regime could produce a fillip to our Hospitality and Healthcare sectors. We supply a complementary range of business services providing balanced revenues. More cautious domestic funding of larger M&A deals may slow the market, pending the resolution of Brexit. Thereafter we anticipate an increase in activity.

We help our clients efficiently run their businesses. Overall these produce attractive returns in an investment market otherwise deprived of yield. Our international agency and advisory business is coming of age. We view the future with confidence.

Away from day to day trading matters, following a review, we have decided to have realised the freehold value of Pinder House in Milton Keynes. The recommended reserve exceeds book value by approximately £2.8 million. We will continue to operate from these offices under an occupational lease.

As we announced in late June, our new Nominated Advisors are Shore Capital and Corporate Limited, following the acquisition of Stockdale Securities Limited by Shore Capital Markets Limited. We say goodbye to Grant Thornton UK LLP as auditors and have appointed Mazars LLP in their place.

My particular thanks to our management teams and staff for the extra thought that has been required, due to the moving political timetable and continued option of outcomes.

The Board has maintained an interim dividend of 1.25p (H1 2018: 1.25p per share) which will be paid on 1 November 2019 to shareholders on the register on 11 October 2019.

David Rugg

Chairman and Chief Executive

Profit for the period after tax attributable to:

Earnings per share attributable to equity holders - pence

All amounts derive from continuing operations.

Consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income attributable to:

Consolidated interim statement of changes in shareholders' equity

Consolidated interim statement of financial position

Consolidated interim statement of cash flows

Notes to the consolidated interim financial statements

1. General information

Christie Group Plc is a is a company incorporated in and operating from England. Christie Group plc is the parent undertaking of a group of companies covering a range of related activities. These fall into two divisions - Professional & Financial Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services. Professional & Financial Services principally covers business valuation, consultancy & agency, business mortgages & insurance services and business appraisal. Stock & Inventory Systems & Services covers stock audit & counting, compliance, food & safety audits, inventory preparation & valuation and hospitality & cinema software.

2. Basis of preparation

The interim financial information in this report has been prepared using accounting policies consistent with IFRS as adopted by the European Union. IFRS is subject to amendment and interpretation by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) and there is an ongoing process of review and endorsement by the European Commission. The financial information has been prepared on the basis of IFRS that the Directors expect to be adopted by the European Union and applicable as at 31 December 2019. 

The accounting policies applied are consistent with those of the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018, except for those noted below and except for the adoption of new standards and interpretations effective as of 1 January 2019. Taxes on income in the interim periods are accrued using the tax rate that would be applicable to expected total annual earnings.

IFRS16 replaced IAS17 Leases, with the key change being that lessee accounting will eliminate the IAS17 distinction between operating leases and finance leases, treating most leases in the same manner as finance leases under IAS17. Where an arrangement meets the IFRS16 definition of a lease and we act as a lessee, at commencement a loan obligation for future lease payables will be recognised together with an equal value non-current asset representing the right to use the leased item. Due to the different methods of unwinding the asset and liability, over time, a difference will arise between the value of the lease liability and the corresponding lease asset.

Lease costs are now recognised in the form of depreciation of the right-of-use asset and interest on the lease liability, which may impact the phasing of operating profit and profit before tax, compared to the cost profiles and presentation in the income statement under IAS17. This has also impacted the classification of associated cash flows in the consolidated cash flow statement.

We have applied the modified retrospective 2 basis when adopting the standard. The carrying amount of the initial right-of-use assets was £5,744,000 and the respective lease liabilities for all leases entered into before 1 January 2019 was £6,780,000. No restatement of prior years was required. The overall impact on equity, was a charge of £1,061,000 as shown in the consolidated interim statement of changes in shareholders' equity. Additionally, included in the consolidated interim income statement, is an interest charge of £334,000 in relation to IFRS16 interest cost.

Non-statutory accounts

These consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 'Interim Financial Reporting'. The financial information for the year ended 31 December 2018 set out in this interim report does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for that period. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified, did not contain a statement under either section 498(2) or section 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006 and did not include references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis. The financial information for the periods ended 30 June 2019 and 30 June 2018 is unaudited.

3. Critical accounting estimates and judgements

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The Group makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are consistent with those applied to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018. 

4. Segment information

The Group is organised into two main business segments: Professional & Financial Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services.

The reportable segment results for continuing operations for the period ended 30 June 2019 are as follows:

The reportable segment results for continuing operations for the period ended 30 June 2018 are as follows:

The reportable segment results for continuing operations for the year ended 31 December 2018 are as follows:

5. Taxation

Deferred tax assets have been recognised in respect of tax losses and other temporary differences giving rise to deferred tax assets where it is probable that these assets will be recovered.

6. Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period, which excludes the shares held in the Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) trust. 

Diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding to assume conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares. The Company has only one category of potential dilutive ordinary shares: share options. Where a loss for the year has been recognised the share options are considered anti-dilutive and so not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share.

The calculation is performed for the share options to determine the number of shares that could have been acquired at fair value (determined as the average annual market share price of the Company's shares) based on the monetary value of the subscription rights attached to outstanding share options. The number of shares calculated as above is compared with the number of shares that would have been issued assuming the exercise of the share options.

7. Dividends

A final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2018 of 1.75p per share, amounting to a total dividend of £462,000, was approved and paid to the Christie Group plc registrar on 1 July 2019. The funds were transferred to shareholders on 5 July 2019.

An interim dividend in respect of 2019 of 1.25p per share, amounting to a dividend of £332,000, was declared by the directors at their meeting on 10 September 2019. These financial statements do not reflect this dividend payable.

The dividend of 1.25p per share will be payable to shareholders on the record on 11 October 2019. The dividend will be paid on 1 November 2019.

8. Share capital

The Company has one class of ordinary shares which carry no right to fixed income.

Investment in own shares

The Group has established an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) trust to meet its future contingent obligations under the Group's share option schemes. The ESOP purchases shares in the market for distribution at a later date in accordance with the terms of the Group's share option schemes. The rights to dividend on the shares held have been waived.

9. Retirement benefit obligations

The obligation outstanding of £12,641,000 (30 June 2018: £12,000,000; 31 December 2018: £14,119,000) includes £1,254,000 (30 June 2018: £956,000; 31 December 2018: £1,281,000) payable to David Rugg by Christie Group plc.

The Group operates two defined benefit schemes (closed to new members) providing pensions on final pensionable pay. The contributions are determined by qualified actuaries based on triennial valuations using the projected unit method.

When a member retires, the pension and any spouse's pension is either secured by an annuity contract or paid from the managed fund. Assets of the schemes are reduced by the purchase price of any annuity purchase and the benefits no longer regarded as liabilities of the scheme.

The amounts recognised in the statement of comprehensive income and the movement in the liability recognised in the statement of financial position have been based on the forecast position for the year ended 31 December 2019 after adjusting for the actual contributions to be paid in the period.

In addition, the Group operates a defined contribution scheme for participating employees. Payments to the scheme are charged as an employee benefit as they fall due. The Group has no further payment obligations once the contributions have been paid.

The movement in the liability recognised in the statement of financial position is as follows:

The amounts recognised in the income statement and statement of comprehensive income are as follows:

The principal actuarial assumptions used were as follows:

Assumptions regarding future mortality experience were consistent with those disclosed in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2018.

10. Note to the cash flow statement

Cash generated from operations

11. Cash and cash equivalents include the following for the purposes of the cash flow statement:

The Group is operating within its existing banking facilities.

12. Related-party transactions

There is no controlling interest in the Group's shares.

During the period rentals of £233,000 (30 June 2018: £280,000; 31 December 2018: £457,000) were paid to Carmelite Property Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales, and jointly owned by The Christie Group Pension and Assurance Scheme, The Venners Retirement Benefit Fund and The Fitzroy Square Pension Fund, by Christie Group plc in accordance with the terms of a long-term lease agreement.

For the six months ended 30 June 2019, Christie Group plc incurred expenses of £50,000 (30 June 2018: £50,000; 31 December 2018: £100,000) in relation to the engagement of Philip Gwyn for consultancy work.

13. Prior year restatement

The Board have reviewed their previously adopted accounting treatment in relation to the asset previously classified as 'Available-for-Sale'. Having considered the requirements of IFRS 9, IFRS 10 and IAS 37 the Board have restated the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as at 30 June 2018 and all other elements of the financial statements so affected. This constitutes an error in the accounting treatment adopted in the prior period financial statements and has accordingly been treated as a prior year adjustment. In doing so, the consolidated financial statements are now prepared recognising non-current restricted access financial assets within Other receivables and Other provisions. The restatement had no impact on previously reported profits or losses.

The effect on the Statement of Financial Position as at 30 June 2018 was as follows:

14. Publication of Interim Report

The 2019 Interim Financial Statements are available on the Company's website www.christiegroup.com