Personal Group Holdings PLC (LON:PGH) said it remains confident in the long-term outlook for the business after a solid start to the year.
The company, which provides companies with employee benefits such as insurance and salary sacrifice programmes, said trading in the first half was in line with its expectations.
Revenue in the group’s technology salary sacrifice business was ahead of last year while the recent acquisition of Innecto, a pay and reward consultancy, provided a boost to the results.
WATCH: Personal Group confident in long term outlook after 'solid start' to the year
The company said its core insurance business continued to “perform well”, although new sales have been slower than expected in the first half as it grows the sales team.
The group is readying the launch of a new version of Sage Employee Benefits, a bundle of services offered to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) through a tie-up with accountancy software group Sage. Preparations for the full launch of the service has been completed after a successful soft launch.
Personal Group said the market for employee benefits remains strong as companies in the UK are under pressure to attract and retain the right employees to improve productivity.
“Recent market testing of our proposition, following my appointment as Chief Executive, has confirmed that our offering strongly resonates,” said chief executive Deborah Frost.
“This, combined with the company's solid foundation, provides me with additional comfort for the future growth of the business.
“The board remains confident in the long-term outlook for the company and will, as planned, provide an update on strategy at the time of the announcement of the half year results in September."