REDT.L Regulatory News (REDT)

8 Aug 2006 07:01

ARC Risk Management Group PLC08 August 2006 ARC Risk Management Group plc AGM Statement Ahead of today's AGM, the Chairman made the following statement. Since the financial year end, ARC Risk Management ('ARC' or the 'Group'), the AIM-listed global security company, has made significant progress across the range of the Group's activities being: red24 red24 is the Group's core division which provides global security services. Itsaim is to be the world's leading international personal security risk managementprovider and is working to achieve this through the following channels:mandatory retail sales in the UK, international distribution agreements,offering services to employees through corporate clients and, through workingwith retail experts and affiliate partners, to offer individual retail sales. We have continued to present our services in a modular approach to our UK-basedclients, which enables them to offer various levels of service to theirdisparate customer groups, according to budget spend and value of thoserespective customer groups. The past twelve months have also seen red24 positionitself in the general assistance market, working with partners to offer serviceswhich complement our own expertise, including credit reference and conciergeservices. HSBC Bank plc, an existing client of red24, has included additional elements ofred24's services within its package of benefits to customers of its UK-basedPlus and Premier accounts. Both Plus and Premier account holders now receive thebenefits of identity fraud protection and personal security assistance. The gap year market continues to be a key distribution area for red24'sservices. World Nomads, the selected travel insurance partner of the LonelyPlanet Guides, has started actively marketing red24 as part of its services andthe Group anticipate further revenue growth from this source. Furthermore, ACE,who have recently launched its ACE Traveller travel insurance policyspecifically targeted at the backpacker market, is including red24 membership asan automatic part of their package. On 27 July, ARC announced a five year, worldwide agreement with AIG IS todistribute its red24 service in the travel market. We expect to incorporate thered24 services into a substantial number of travel policies in the comingmonths. Already, the product has gone live in a new market sector in Japan withuniversities which are involved in sending students overseas. This will provideJapanese students with the added security that the red24 service offers. This contract adds AIG IS to ARC's growing list of international blue chipclients, including five of the ten largest FTSE100 companies. Following thisagreement, ARC has also improved its client list in the insurance and bankingsector which now includes ACE, AIG, Citibank, HSBC, Hiscox and Zurich. We continue to offer our services to corporate clients, providing protection andassistance for employees travelling to destinations as diverse as Haiti, Sudanand Lebanon. We expect to roll out these services to further clients in thecoming months. Regarding the retail and affiliate arena, we will be launching an enhanced red24website in September to support our work with affiliate partners. The number ofend users of our service continues to grow, largely as a result of client ledmarketing. Building awareness of the red24 service through marketing activitycontinues and we aim, in the coming months, to establish a partnership with anexperienced UK retailer to broaden our channels of distribution. Since the beginning of 2005 red24 has increased its customer base more thanten-fold, with over one million membership units are now in circulation. Consultancy Our consultants provide risk assessment and crisis planning both to a number ofcorporate clients and also to insurance companies and their insured. Since the year end, we have been retained as consultants for a major book ofspecial risk business in the United States which offers good prospects todevelop the consulting business. Training Our Training business is the leading provider of training courses in the fieldof Security Risk Management to blue chip companies outside the United States. The training business has enjoyed a much better start to the year than in 2005and, in addition to our published programme of open courses, has conducted anumber of major training courses overseas for international clients. Our staffare playing a leading role in the professional development of the industry,placing the business in an excellent position for further growth in the next fewyears. Outlook An intensive programme of product development and cost cutting throughout theGroup has improved productivity and, through the three operating divisions, theGroup has now established a sound platform for long term customer growth. As already announced, ARC has granted options to its directors and staff. Thesecan only be exercised if the consolidated pre-tax profit for the year ending31st March 2008 exceeds £2m. The directors see this as a sign of confidencethroughout the Group that it will achieve a significant increase in its profitsfor the year ending 2008 and they view the future with optimism. ---ENDS--- ARC Risk Management Group plc 01189 740875Simon Richards Threadneedle Communications 020 7936 9605Graham Herring / Josh Royston HB Corporate 020 7510 8600Imran Ahmad Notes to Editors: ARC Risk Management Group plc is a provider of security risk managementservices, offering preventative and reactive advice to help individuals avoidand manage personal risks to themselves and their families. The products aredistributed through leading international financial service companies. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange