SJH.L Regulatory News (SJH)

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

30 October 2020

ST. JAMES HOUSE PLC

 ("SJH", the "Group" or the "Company")

Trading Update

The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") is pleased to provide the following trading statement and update on recent developments.

Trading Update

Payments Division

The payments division, having rolled out multicurrency accounts, has seen improvements in sales through September and October. After the relatively quiet month of August, September saw an increase in Euro handle of 29%, however GBP handle was down 37%. There was however a significant increase in October as clients adopted the new services seeing a month-on-month increase in Euro handle of 304% and an increase in GBP of 487%. 

Feedback from these early adopters of the new service is very encouraging, with new account openings being turned around in two days for companies and under a day for individuals. Once an account is open, further currency accounts for that client take just a few minutes to configure and push live. A targeted sales and marketing campaign will launch in November supported by a dedicated client onboarding team ensuring fast turnaround of applications for individual and business applicants.

Growth in Prepaid Card Products has improved from the 2% growth previously reported in August, and similar levels in September, with growth rising to 19% in October. Two managed card programmes have placed further orders for card stock in October which are estimated will translate to a 200% increase in active cards over the coming months. Average daily spending levels, which decreased significantly in August, have recovered to the prior levels through September and October.

The merchant services team has now completed the deployment of a new gateway which gives access to 25 acquiring banks, the major ecommerce checkout/shopping carts, and the major alternative payment methods including PayPal, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay and Google Pay. The new system is also integrated into a range of EPOS systems meaning that we can service any type of merchant in virtually any market. The impact of COVID-19 continues to disrupt visits to potential merchants, an important part of the sales cycle however the company has also deployed an online application and verification process reducing the need for face to face meetings in order to verify the business activities of merchants.

Lottery Business

Prize Provision Services ("PPS") continues to see stability in the number of weekly entries into the lotteries it administers, despite ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The 19 October 2020 draw saw another lucky lottery player scoop the £25,000 jackpot. The Safe Haven for Donkeys supporter was the second player to win the jackpot in six weeks, following a Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC supporter's win on the 7 September.

The second win offers PPS a further opportunity to extol the virtues of lotteries to players and societies alike. As the jackpot is insured, the pay outs do not affect the profitability of PPS.

Claims Management Business

The claims management business, St Francis House Ltd ("St Francis"), is fully operational and is managing some 130 cases with a work in progress value of approximately £300,000, and 15-20 cases being added weekly since the Company's previous trading statement (23 September 2020). St Francis has seen early cases already reaching settlement phase and the Board expects it to deliver positive cashflow from November.

Group

As announced on 27 October 2020, the Board confirms that the Company's ordinary shares of 1 pence each will be suspended from trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") with effect from 0730 on 2 November 2020 (the "Suspension"). The Company continues to work diligently with its auditors to complete its annual report and accounts for the year to 31 January 2020, and currently expects to complete this process during November; following their publication the Board will seek a lifting of the Suspension.

Graeme Paton, Chief Executive, commented, "The uptake of the new named multi-currency accounts is extremely encouraging, as is the progress made by the Claims Management team in Liverpool who have hit the ground running and are making a positive impact on the Group's overall performance with predicable, measurable and scalable positive income that the Group requires. The company is well placed now for future growth with two jackpot winners showing that even the smallest of societies can benefit and offer attractive jackpots for lottery members, new banking and FX products which are proving popular with customers and, importantly, a valuable new steady income stream in the claims management business."

For further information, contact: