REG - Begbies Traynor - Year end trading update

Begbies TraynorAnnouncement

21/05/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240521:nRSU1603Pa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 1603P  Begbies Traynor Group PLC  21 May 2024

21 May 2024

 

Begbies Traynor Group plc

Year end trading update

Notice of full year results

Begbies Traynor Group plc (the 'company' or the 'group'), the professional
services consultancy, announces an update on trading for its financial year
ended 30 April 2024.

Strong financial performance - ninth successive year of growth in profits

·      Revenue expected to increase by c.12% to c.£136m (2023:
£121.8m)

·      Adjusted EBITDA expected to increase by c.9% to c.£29m (2023:
£26.6m), ahead of market expectations**

o  Margins improved across both business recovery and property services
offset by subdued M&A transactions in corporate finance and investment to
support ongoing growth

·      Adjusted PBT expected to increase by c.6% to c.£22m (2023:
£20.7m), having absorbed increased finance costs

·      Net debt lower than anticipated at £1.4m on 30 April 2024 (2023:
net cash of £3.0m), demonstrating strong free cash flow, having paid
acquisition consideration of £8m and funded £3m of EBT share purchases***

*        All numbers in this statement are subject to audit

**     Market expectations (as compiled by the company): revenue of
£134.0m-£135.2m, adjusted EBITDA £27.7m-£28.4m, adjusted PBT of
£21.9m-£22.5m, net debt of £2.0m-£3.2m

***     Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) trading plan as announced on 14
December 2023

 

Growth across both divisions

·      Business recovery and advisory - revenue growth of c.7%

o  Business recovery teams had a successful year with c.13% revenue growth

§ Activity levels increased across all case sizes

§ Added capacity to the team through recruitment and acquisition

§ Market leading position maintained (by volume) with national market volumes
continuing to increase in current interest rate and inflation environment

o  Resilient advisory performance with financing and restructuring
engagements mitigating the previously reported reduction in M&A
transactions

·      Property advisory and transactional services - revenue growth of
c.25%

o  Strong growth in the year driven by both acquisitions and organic
development

o  Growth delivered across all core disciplines of valuation, asset sales and
consultancy

·      Invested in teams to support ongoing growth in the group
including:

o  Talent development and wellbeing support

o  IT and programme management capability

o  Third party software applications to automate and improve processes

Value-accretive acquisitions performing well

Four acquisitions completed in the financial year, adding over £9m in
pro-forma revenue to the group (in year revenue contribution c£5m):

·      Banks Long & Co, a general chartered surveyors practice,
based in Lincoln;

·      Cardiff-based insolvency team from Jones Giles & Clay,
joining the group's existing Cardiff office;

·      Andrew Forbes, a property valuation practice based in Bristol;
and

·      SDL auctions, a national firm of property auctioneers
headquartered in Nottingham.

All acquisitions complement the group's current service offerings whilst
strengthening our regional presence, with their integration and trading
performance in line with expectations.

Strong balance sheet with significant headroom under new debt facility

·      Net debt of £1.4m at 30 April 2024 (2023: net cash of £3.0m)

o  Reflects better than anticipated cash generation in the final quarter

o  Strong free cash flow

o  After acquisition consideration of £8m and £3m of EBT share purchases***

·      New £35m debt facility agreed with HSBC as announced in February
2024, which replaced the group's previous facility which was due to mature in
August 2025. The key terms are:

o  £25m committed, unsecured revolving credit facility (unchanged)

o  £10m accordion facility (increased from £5m), allowing further debt
capacity to support the group's growth strategy

o  Overall facility costs broadly in line with the previous facility

 

Notice of results

The group will report its final results for the year ended 30 April 2024 on
Tuesday 9 July 2024. There will be an analyst presentation at 9.00am on the
day in London. Please contact begbies@mhpgroup.com if you would like to
receive details.

 

Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman of Begbies Traynor Group plc, commented:

"We have delivered another strong performance, with EBITDA ahead of market
expectations and net debt lower than anticipated. This was driven by increased
activity levels in business recovery, which maintained its market-leading
position by volume, and very strong growth across our property advisory and
transactional services teams.

 

"The group's cash generation, combined with the significant headroom within
our new debt facility, provides us with the flexibility to execute our
strategy to continue to grow our scale and range of services both organically
and through acquisition.

 

"We expect business recovery activity levels to remain strong, combined with a
recovery in M&A activities and the continued growth across our property
services business. We are therefore confident of continuing to build upon our
long track record of growth in the current year and beyond."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. The person responsible for
arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Begbies Traynor Group
plc is Nick Taylor, its Group Finance Director

 

Enquiries please contact:

Begbies Traynor Group plc
                             0161 837 1700

Ric Traynor - Executive Chairman

Nick Taylor - Group Finance Director

Canaccord Genuity Limited
                              020 7523 8350

(Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

Emma Gabriel / Harry Pardoe

Shore Capital
                                            020 7408
4090

(Joint Broker)

Malachy McEntyre / Mark Percy / Anita Ghanekar / James Thomas

MHP
Communications
07827 662831

Reg Hoare / Katie Hunt / Charles Hirst
                       begbies@mhpgroup.com
(mailto:begbies@mhpgroup.com)

 

Information on Begbies Traynor Group can be accessed via the group's website
at

ir.begbies-traynorgroup.com

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTPPUPPAUPCGAU