SJH.L Regulatory News (SJH)

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

27 November 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

Payment Services

Following on from the launch of the multicurrency account services there has been a modest increase in account opening of 7.5% during the last month, despite the new lockdown conditions.

In the period from 24 October 2020 the Company has seen significant improvement in FX and account handle with growth in FX transactions of 237% (mostly driven by GBP to USD swaps). Following on from the 304% growth in October EUR account handle has increased 117% compared to last month and GB account handle which grew by 487% in October has more than doubled, growing 138% in the last four weeks.

The dedicated onboarding teams have been instrumental in helping new and existing customers to get the most out of the new multicurrency account functionality. 

The Company has decided to hold back on large scale advertising until the end of the current lockdown but continues working on several very targeted campaigns to roll out in the near future.

Prepaid Card Products have enjoyed a 20% increase in managed services (cards issued for third parties) with new programs to launch in the New Year, plus an 18% increase in active cards underlined by a 7% growth in average card spend.

With the new acquiring gateway now operational, the Merchant Services Group has started prospecting for new clients focusing on opportunities provided via partners and referral agents in order to expand its reach in order to improve success rates in the current challenging climate.

Lottery Services

Prize Provision Services Limited ("PPS") is pleased to see continued stability in the number of weekly entries into the lotteries it administers. Over the past month, a number of large societies have begun to increase in promotional activity which is pleasing to see and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, PPS expect to see out the year with roughly the same number of lines being played per week as at the end of 2019.

PPS has also recruited a new salesperson who will be based in the Group's Liverpool office to give a local presence in the North West. Primarily focussed on the hard-hit grass-roots sports sector, the salesperson will also target societies across the whole of the region while being supported from PPS's Midlands base. 

Legal Services

The legal services business, St Frances House Ltd continues to establish itself and has seen an increase in current active cases of 52, giving a total of 182 cases live as of 24 November 2020 with a gross work in progress ("WIP") value of £470,000. This represents an increase in the value of the WIP of £170,000 in the last four weeks. Cases continue to be added at a rate of 10-15 per week and cases are beginning to settle and revenue realised. The company anticipates that it will give a detailed update at the end of St Frances' first full quarter as cases settle and the timescale of claim to settlement becomes clearer, as court timetables are currently proving to be longer than anticipated due to the recent additional COVID-19 restrictions.

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 during November as had been hoped, and this is now expected to be completed in December. 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, "Despite the obvious challenges that the Covid Crisis is serving to all types of businesses we have been able to grow the account and FX business as clients find it difficult to open bank accounts or are seeking alternatives as redundancy to traditional providers. PPS has maintained the number of lines played during these remarkable times where perhaps people's priorities may change, and of course the Legal Services business is growing at a manageable and sustainable pace and it will bring attractive regular, reliable revenue moving forward. The Board continues to work closely with the Audit team to ensure that we can finalise the annual results and we will update as and when these are ready."

For further information, contact:

Updated Disclosures of PDMR, PCA and Significant Shareholders

1. Includes Ordinary Shares held by Moorhen Limited, a company controlled by Mr Jackson and 33,333 Ordinary Shares, Post Changes, to be held by Tilly Beazley, Mr Jackson's wife.

2. Includes 100,000 Ordinary Shares held by MDC Nominees Limited, a company controlled by Mr Botros. Mr Botros is a subsidiary director of the Group.

3. Includes Ordinary Shares held by Management Express Limited, a company controlled by Mr Rose. Mr Rose is a subsidiary director of the Group.

4. J M Malone is Mr Botros' wife. Includes 160,000 Ordinary Shares held by Bluedale Corporate Limited, a company controlled by Ms Malone.

* Director of the Company.

The First Hartford trust is no longer regarded as a Related Party under the AIM Rules for Companies or a Person Closely Associated under the Market Abuse Regulation, as due to an error, J M Malone was indicated as a beneficiary, however she is not nor ever has been a beneficiary of this trust.

Disclosure of transaction by a Person Closely Associated with Philip Jackson in relation to convertible loan stock issued by the Company:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7692G_1-2020-11-27.pdf

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7692G_2-2020-11-27.pdf