MJH.L Regulatory News (MJH)

Strictly private & confidential

RNS Release : 1.6.2020

MJ Hudson Group plc

(the "Company", "Group" or "MJ Hudson")

Trading Update

MJ Hudson, the international asset management consultancy, is pleased to announce the following trading update.

We are pleased to report encouraging levels of client work and strong sales activity in the lockdown period. This is despite the Covid-19 pandemic making for a challenging market environment in the months since the release of MH Hudson´s interim results in March. The Group has continued to win new clients and cross-selling success has led to more multi-divisional work.

The Directors believe that this resilience derives from the Group´s mix of advisory, business outsourcing and data & analytics services. Whereas, amid continued investor uncertainty, our work involving new client fund launches has predictably slowed down, other areas are showing counter-cyclical growth. In particular, we are seeing fund restructuring work in our legal business, and the trend to prioritise ESG has not gone away, especially amongst the alternative sector we serve. The Company´s ESG practice has gained two new clients in the UK since March and we are working on new product initiatives to extend its reach in response to market demand.

The Group remains confident of achieving profits in line with market expectations for its full financial year ending 30 June 2020 ("FY 2020"). While there has been some revenue disruption due to the lack of new fund launch activity in recent months, we have taken measures to manage our costs to compensate and have been able to do so on a timely basis. The Group has a strong cash position and a robust balance sheet and is well-positioned to continue its growth strategy as set out at the IPO. 

We expect to report no later than November on our preliminary results for the twelve months to June 2020 and a Notice of Results announcement will follow in due course. Market uncertainty remains a factor and, like most of our peers, the degree of any impact from Covid-19 is yet to be known in full. The Board will continue to keep shareholders updated; however, the timing of our results to end June 2020 will allow it to review prospects for the financial year ending June 2021 from an informed perspective .

Matthew Hudson, CEO of the Group, said:

"I am very impressed with the resilient way clients and staff alike have reacted to the disruption caused by Covid-19 on business cycles, the investment environment and working practices. The client community, whilst weathering the tactical headwinds, have remained steadfastly focused on their strategic objectives. Many of them manage long-life closed ended funds. Meanwhile, we remain active across all divisions. This momentum, allied to our financial strength, especially since our 2019 IPO fund-raise, puts us in a favourable position going forward as we take advantage of opportunities for organic and inorganic growth."

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About MJ Hudson

MJ Hudson, the asset management consultancy, provides expertise and infrastructure support to fund managers, investors and other specialists in the asset management industries. The firm's services include law, fund management solutions, international administration, investment advisory, data & analytics and IR & Marketing.

This comprehensive range of capabilities, coupled with MJ Hudson's ability to draw on many industry perspectives, allows the firm to build project teams that are extremely effective at helping clients achieve multiple goals. From its offices across the major asset management centres, MJ Hudson's team of more than 182 professionals work for clients managing and advising more than $1trn of assets. The firm has expertise in all traditional and alternative asset classes, including equities and bonds, private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, energy, and credit.