SJH.L Regulatory News (SJH)

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310.

29 January 2021

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

Payment Services

The period 23 December 2020 to 27 January 2021 has seen a steady performance in the payments division, with GBP:USD FX pair transactions growing a further 7% in volume, while there was a continued slowdown in EUR deposits of around 13%, both compared with the equivalent prior period. Overall, the number of active multicurrency accounts grew by 8% in the period, and the Company expects the take up rate to increase significantly now that an enhanced sales and marketing effort is underway.

Prepaid Cards have been stable in this period following the planned migration to a new service provider as part of the development of revamped prepaid services due for launch in the spring; existing cardholders will be transferred seamlessly in the next four weeks.

The merchant services team have continued to develop an active pipeline of clients going through approval which will see clients going live in the coming weeks.

Overall, the Payment Services business has continued to prove to have some resilience to the impact of Covid-19 containment measures to date, and similarly, post-Brexit it is not anticipating any material impact on the business.

Lottery Services

The number of entries into lotteries which Prize Provision Services Limited ("PPS") administers remains steady, despite the ongoing lockdown. 

The recently commenced sales operation based in the Group's Liverpool office has begun to acquire new lottery clients from the local area. Around 10 new lotteries will begin to acquire players in February and the number of new lotteries managed from Liverpool is expected to increase each month. 

While the current Covid-19 restrictions are a hindrance to PPS, it is continuing to operate in line with expectations. 

Legal Services

St Frances House Ltd ("St Frances") continues to build its client base and has brought in 56 new cases, with settlements on 24 cases since the 23 December 2020, giving a total of 292 cases live as of 27 January 2021 with an approximate gross work in progress value of £1.4m. The St Frances continues to add new cases at around the same rate, with a view to increase and diversify the case type in the spring. As cases begin to settle and revenue is realised the Company will give a detailed update on the contribution to revenue in the coming weeks as settlement patterns emerge.

Group

The Company and its auditors continue to work on the preparation of its audited annual report and accounts for the year to 31 January 2020 (the "Annual Report"), however it has not proved possible to complete everything as had been hoped, and this is now expected to be completed in mid-February. The Company's unaudited half-year financial results for the six months to 31 July 2020 will also not be published until the Annual Report is published. As a result, the Company's ordinary shares of 1 pence each will continue to be suspended from trading on AIM until these financial results are published.

Graeme Paton, Chief Executive, commented, "We are looking forward to building upon the progress made during the last quarter by increasing business development and sales activity in all divisions. While the impact of Brexit and Covid-19 cannot be fully predicted, we believe the measures we have taken will avoid any significant negative impact. We anticipate that the benefits of these sales and marketing efforts will begin to be felt during the first half of the new financial year."

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