Last checked at 3 Jun 2021 07:00
3 June 2021
THE PEBBLE GROUP PLC
("The Pebble Group", the "Company" or the "Group")
(AIM: PEBB)
AGM STATEMENT
Ahead of the Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), which is being held later today, The Pebble Group announces the following trading update.
The Board is pleased to say that the positive start to the new financial year, which was reported in the Group's Final Results 2020 announced on 23 March 2021, has continued, with the business performing well and in line with management expectations.
Facilisgroup
Facilisgroup is developing as anticipated. Our three key performance measures are making good progress and are on track to meet the management's milestones for FY 21, as set out in our Final Results 2020, being the first step to the aspiration of $50m recurring revenue by the end of 2024.
§ Partner (customer) numbers now total 186 (31 December 2020: 175), with a further 4 contracted and awaiting implementation
§ Gross Merchandise Value ("GMV") processed through our technology is in line with our expectation. For the five months to May 2021, GMV is 78% of 2020, a period when a number of our Partners processed a high value of PPE sales. Positively, GMV is 116% of the same period in 2019, an important indicator demonstrating the strong recovery of like-for-like Partner sales together with the increase in our Partner numbers
§ Preferred Supplier purchases made by our Partners have increased and are, as anticipated, moving back towards the pre-COVID-19 percentage levels of 2019 of circa 45%
We continue to invest in the team both in terms of numbers and skill sets to ensure that our infrastructure supports our aspirations. This includes the development of our ecommerce platform, allowing for the easy implementation of online stores to existing and new Partners, which remains firmly on track. We will integrate this ecommerce platform into our existing order workflow software in 2021 and launch this product into the wider promotional products market in early 2022.
The positive trajectory in our three key performance measures is driving year on year growth in our Annual Recurring Revenue and gives us confidence in our strategy and the opportunities set out for Facilisgroup.
Brand Addition
Brand Addition's order intake for 2021 has been strong. In the five months to the end of May 2021, total sales orders invoiced or received are £64.8m, an increase of 62% compared to 2020 and an increase of 28% compared to 2019, a period before any sales impact resulting from COVID-19.
In our Corporate Programmes division (~60% FY 20 divisional revenues), order intake to date is well ahead of 2020, when, in April and May 2020, initial lockdowns severely affected our sales. Comparing to 2019, like-for-like order intake is recovering. New clients won in 2020 are performing well and in line with our expectation.
In our Consumer Promotions division (~40% FY 20 divisional revenues), we have benefited from a significant increase in sales orders, as existing clients have consolidated their spend across geographies using Brand Addition as a preferred and trusted supplier. Due to the bespoke nature and long lead times of these orders, the majority of Consumer Promotion orders that will be invoiced in FY 21 are now received, resulting in good visibility of what will be a very positive year for our Consumer Promotions division.
To provide some context of recent trading, total Brand Addition sales order intake in the month of May 2021 was 115% of May 2019.
The value of Brand Addition orders received to date and our current activity level is encouraging and we stay consistent with our previous messaging of targeting a return towards FY 19 revenues in FY 21.
Outlook
The Board remains excited in the prospects for the Group and looks forward to fully updating shareholders on its progress when issuing the Half Yearly Results for the six months to 30 June 2021 on 7 September 2021.
Enquiries:
The Pebble Group plc Chris Lee, Chief Executive Officer Claire Thomson, Chief Financial Officer
| +44 (0) 161 786 0415 |
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser) Samantha Harrison / Harrison Clarke / Lukas Girzadas
| +44 (0) 20 7184 4384 |
Berenberg (Corporate Broker) Chris Bowman / Jen Clarke / Arnav Kapoor
| +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 |
Belvedere Communications (Financial PR) Cat Valentine Keeley Clarke Llew Angus | thepebblegrouppr@belvederepr.com +44 (0) 7715 769 078 +44 (0) 7967 816 525 +44 (0) 7407 023 147 |
About The Pebble Group plc - www.thepebblegroup.com
The Pebble Group is a provider of technology, services and products to the global promotional products industry, comprising two differentiated businesses, focused on specific areas of the promotional products market:
Facilisgroup - www.facilisgroup.com
Facilisgroup focuses on supporting the growth of mid-sized Promotional Product businesses in North America by providing a technology platform, which enables those businesses to benefit from significant business efficiency and gain meaningful supply chain advantage from the ability to purchase from quality suppliers under preferred terms.
Brand Addition - www.brandaddition.com
Brand Addition focuses upon providing promotional products and related services under contract to some of the world's most recognisable brands. Its largest contracts are valued in the millions of pounds with the products and services supplied being used for brand building, customer engagement and employee rewards. Working in close collaboration with its clients, Brand Addition designs products and product ranges, hosts client-branded global web stores and provides international sourcing and distribution solutions.
We categorise our revenues into two divisions, Corporate Programmes, that supports our clients' general marketing activities, and Consumer Promotions, that supports our clients in driving their own sales volumes.