Personal Group Holdings PLC (LON:PGH) shares surged mid-morning Tuesday after reporting improved profits in its latest full year, saying that it saw “potential opportunity” in a less predictable business environment caused by the ongoing Brexit shenanigans.
The firm, which provides companies with employee benefits such as insurance and salary sacrifice programmes, reported a 5.8% increase in adjusted earnings (EBITDA) to £11.4mln, in line with market expectations, while revenues were up 22% at £55.3mln.
READ: Personal Group shareholders approve acquisition of Innecto
The company said it had seen “strong” sales in its core insurance arm over the year, while its software-as-a-service (SaaS) business had seen revenues surge 229% on the back of increased spend on the Hapi platform and several new client wins.
PGH also upped its dividend for the year by 1.3% to 23p per share.
“This performance reflects investments made by the Group which have strengthened our client offer, supported by our proven team and ability to innovate to meet market needs”, said Deborah Frost, the company’s chief executive (CEO).
“As we move into 2019, we continue to be well placed to respond to the opportunities being created.”
Frost took over as CEO in February after pay and reward consultancy Innecto, which she co-founded, was bought by Personal Group for £3mln in cash.
In its outlook, PGH joined the chorus of companies blaming the ongoing Brexit kerfuffle for an “uncertain business environment” going forward, however, added that long-term opportunities meant they were “well placed to exploit and see a potential opportunity in this less predictable business environment”.
The company added that challenges from the latter part of last year, including security issues with its third-party supply chain which had dented some of its client relationships, were expected to have “some further effect” into 2019.
Shares were up 6.6% at 359.3p.
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