Interim Results
Highlights
· Gross sales of £364.2 million increased by 118% (H1 2013: £167.3m)
· Revenue of £357.3 million increased by 119% (H1 2013: £163.3m) due primarily to strong organic and synergistic growth; businesses acquired in the last 12 months represented less than 10% of revenue
o Professional Services revenue of £293.3 million increased by 108% (H1 2013: £140.8 m) driven by major organic contract wins announced during H2 2013 and H1 2014
o Digital Solutions revenue of £64.1 million increased by 185% (H1 2013: £22.5 m)
· Adjusted EBITDA1,3 of £156.0 million increased by 189% (H1 2013: £54.0m) due to H1 2014 mix having an increased proportion of Digital Solutions revenue and growth of Legal Services revenue
· Adjusted EBITDA1,3 margin of 44% (FY 2013: 36%) based on Revenue
· Adjusted EBITDA1,3 margin of 43% (FY 2013: 35%) based on Gross Sales
· Profit Before Tax1 of £153.7 million increased by 292% (H1 2013: £39.2m)
· Adjusted Profit Before Tax1,4 of £153.6 million increased by 193% (H1 2013: £52.5m)
· Basic EPS1 of 30.1 pence increased by 155% (H1 2013: 11.8 pence)
· Adjusted EPS1,2 of 29.6 pence increased by 79% (H1 2013: 16.5 pence)
· Unadjusted statutory measures are all ahead of Adjusted KPIs primarily due to £14.5 million statutory gain on re-measurement of acquisitions
Cash flow and Debtor Management
· Adjusted operating cash flow1,5 for the half year significantly ahead of expectations and guidance with £51.2 million outflow compared to original guidance of £60 million outflow during planned significant growth in H1
· Operating cash outflow (post exceptional costs) of £53.3 million
· Cash generation increasing with over £220 million of cash collected in H1 2014 - circa 80% of the value of total trade related receivables (including accrued income, excluding noise induced hearing loss cases which recently commenced in volume) as at December 2013
o Cash generation represents circa £1.8 million of cash received per business day with Legal Services on track collecting circa £0.5 million per business day by the end of the period, targeted to rise to £0.75 million and £1 million by Q3 and Q4 respectively underpinning H2 cash guidance
o Legal Services cash collection targets viable due to circa 110,000 cases in progress as at 30 June 2014
· Average Group trade receivable days at June 2014 reduced to circa 4.6 months (H1 2013: 4.8 months)
· Cash at 30 June 2014 also significantly ahead of plan at £85.0 million and net funds increased further in July
Outlook: on track to meet 2014 targets
· Board remains confident of meeting all of its KPIs for FY2014 (cash conversion, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS) on FY revenue guidance of £800 to £900m
· Continue to deliver on strategy
o Driving down cost of insurance claims and maintaining or improving cash margins reduces turnover without volume reduction but increasing EBITDA margin
o Control growth and optimise cash flow, through being selective and limiting business volume
o EBITDA margin range guidance increasing to 35% to 45% (from 35% to 40%)
· Track record of consistent cash collection: circa 80% of trade related receivables (including accrued income, excluding noise induced hearing loss cases which recently commenced in volume) collected over each of the last three six month periods combined with Group cash flow turning positive in July
o Underpins H2 operating cash flow guidance of circa £30 to £40 million, and H1 2015 guidance of up to £100 million inflow
· Strategic priorities remain: focus on integration, delivery and cash generation
· Reaffirmed commitment to strengthening management and further enhancing corporate governance
· All core business relationships remain strong
· Certain contracts being restructured to ensure optimum return on cash resource - profit and cash expectations not dependent on any upside from these initiatives