Personal Group PLC (LON:PGH) chairman Mark Winlow will tell shareholders at Thursday’s annual general meeting that, given the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic environment, the leading provider of employee services has made an encouraging start to the year.
In the AGM statement Winlow said: "Like many companies, much of 2020 has been taken up with preparing for, and responding to, COVID-19, however, it is still too early to accurately assess its eventual impact on our clients, their employees and our business.”
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He added: “We do have a robust recurring revenue model across the Group including insurance where the most obvious impact is that currently we cannot sell our insurance products face-to-face. So, as an example of the actions we are taking, we have switched our salesforce to telesales to retain and recapture policyholders.
“We have also introduced new company-wide pandemic insurance product for our clients. We are proud that during the crisis, once more we have kept our promises. We are paying out on COVID-19 claims and supporting bereaved families and hospitalised policyholders through this difficult period.”
The chairman concluded: “We continue to engage with clients, existing and new and I am pleased to announce that we are negotiating significant potential new Let's Connect and Insurance clients which are on-going despite the challenges of COVID-19."
CFO change
In a separate statement, Personal Group also announced that its CFO Mike Dugdale has confirmed his intention to retire on September 30, 2020.
The company said Sarah Mace, the group financial controller and company secretary, will be appointed as Interim CFO on September 30, Dugdale’s departure date, allowing an orderly handover and transition time.
In that statement, Winlow commented: "We have enjoyed the benefit of Mike's broad experience for over 7 years which has seen him contribute across a wide range of our activities.
“As well as establishing a very capable finance function, Mike has been at the vanguard of acquiring Innecto and Let's Connect and provided a strong link with our investors. As Chairman, I have benefitted from his contribution as a board director where he has provided guidance and challenge in addition to his executive responsibilities. I wish Mike well in his retirement.”
He added: ''I am particularly pleased that we have such a strong internal candidate in Sarah, who can step into the interim CFO role at this particularly challenging time."