Saga is a well-recognised, classic British brand, providing products and services tailored for people aged 50 and over. The Company has been built on the highest standards of customer care, value for money and talking directly to its customers. The Saga brand embodies those core values today and is one of the most trusted brands among people aged over 50 in the UK.

By focusing on the needs of its customers, Saga has gained a unique insight and an in-depth understanding of the over 50s which has enabled it to expand its business and tailor its products specifically for its customers. Initially established as an out-of-season holiday provider in 1950, Saga has successfully broadened its product and service offering to range from cruises and holidays, home and motor insurance, savings and share dealing through to the UK’s best-selling Saga Magazine. Saga also provides domiciliary and primary healthcare services through Allied Healthcare, which is part of the Group.

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SAGA's Fundamentals (SAGA)

The over-50s group Saga is preparing for life after private equity ownership after Acromas sold off the remainder of its shares. Saga initially struggled on the stock market following its debut in May 2014, but the price has stabilised in recent months and was boosted by a dividend increase alongside encouraging annual results this week. Acromas placed the last of its 31.5% stake with institutional investors in a sale on Thursday night. - The Daily Telegraph

Final Results

· Consistent delivery of profit growth
o Underlying profit before tax, excluding derivative gains and the Ogden discount rate impact increased by 5.6%
· Sustained cash generation, leading to further deleveraging
o Now within medium-term target range of between 1.5 and 2.0 times
· 18.1% growth in proposed full year dividend, equating to a payout ratio of 62%4 (FY 2016: 57%5)

Divisional Highlights

Retail broking
· Strong performance in competitive environment with significant improvement in motor
· Motor panel performing as expected
· Broking profit per customer grew 5.7% to £46.0 (FY 2016: £43.5)


Insurance underwriting
· Continued strong performance in motor underwriting
· Profit before tax (excluding Ogden impact) of £77.1m (FY 2016: £84.1m) with lower reserve releases
· Impact of change in Ogden discount rate from 2.5% to -0.75% of £4m
· Positive capital release from underwriter

Travel
· Profit growth across travel business, despite scheduled maintenance of Saga Sapphire
· Robust trading performance and visibility for FY 2018 departures, with current reservations 8% ahead of prior year
· New cruise ship on track for delivery in June 2019

Customer work
· Enhanced customer understanding assisting retention and acquisition
· Driving proposition development across all divisions
· Identification of c.500k High-affinity Customers ("HACs")
· Launch of the Saga membership scheme, 'Saga Possibilities' later this year


Commenting on the results, Lance Batchelor, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

"For the third successive year since IPO, we have delivered a strong set of financial results. Underlying profit before tax1 is up 5.6%, consistent with our ongoing objective of delivering consistent, sustainable profit growth. Debt is down sharply, and I am very pleased that the dividend has again materially increased.

Our performance has continued to prove the strength of the Saga business model, which builds multi-decade relationships with our target demographic through a range of excellent products and services. This breadth allows us to deliver consistently for our shareholders, despite the ebbs, flows and challenges in the insurance and travel markets.

We have progressed our intensive work to better understand which Saga customers are our most valuable, and how we can best reward and retain them, as well as nurture the next generation. We know more about Saga's core customers than ever before, which is leading to more efficient acquisition, retention and up-sell of our products. It means we can better help our customers to enjoy their retirement to the full.

The new financial year will be a busy and exciting one. In the second half, we will launch our membership scheme, "Saga Possibilities", allowing us to deepen our relationship with our customers and find a variety of ways to thank them for their loyalty. In future, I will normally refer to "Saga Members" rather than customers, a significant shift after 65 years of Saga history.

Also in 2017, we will finalise the design details of our first purpose built ship, Saga's "Spirit of Discovery". We will start selling cabins later this year for her first season, summer 2019.

Our confidence in continuing to deliver a consistent financial performance in 2017 is strong. We have started the financial year well, and I look ahead with a great deal of optimism for the business."


END

StockMarketWire.com
Saga said it expected its full-year profit to be hit by more challenging trading in insurance broking conditions and the collapse of Monarch Airlines.

The company, which offers services to the over 50s, said pre-tax profit is expected to grow by "between 1% and 2%" this year and fall by around 5% next year.

For the full year, the "written profit" of the company's retail broking business was expected to be ahead year-on-year, with a strong performance in motor partially offset by weakness in home and travel insurance.

However, earned profit for retail broking was expected to be marginally lower.

The company also expected to incur a one-off £4m restructuring charge and said it would invest £10m in customer acquisition efforts.

"We expect the current year dividend to be in line with our expectations, and we remain fully committed to our stated dividend policy," Saga said.

my hold to hangon to 2019 ships ect long term holder, no hint of p/w now hold
to get money back, saga gave wrong statement last results upbeat. BB

Can this Woodford Income share bounce back?

StockMarketWire.com
Saga traded in line with expectations in the four months to 31 May 2018. The company said its targeted investment in customer growth is driving both Saga branded policy count and cruise bookings.

Saga branded retail insurance policies increased by approximately 1% year on year, supported by 30% and 14% growth in motor and home new business policies, respectively. Total retail insurance policies for the period are flat as a result of closing the Direct Choice brand in 2017.

The motor and home markets remain competitive, but Saga continue to write new business on attractive terms with direct marketing channels representing the majority of new business volumes.

The company reported its underwriter continues to perform well with motor claims costs are in line with expectations despite the snow and icy weather conditions experienced during the period as customers are able to defer journeys.

Tour bookings for 2019/20 departures are flat year on year with recent positive momentum.

Bookings for the new cruise ship, Spirit of Discovery, are now over 55% of the sales target for the first nine months from June 2019, at attractive yields.

Possibilities, the new membership scheme, now has 740,000 members, as at 17 June 2018.

CEO Lance Batchelor said: "We have seen good momentum this year across our travel and insurance businesses, particularly in new motor and home insurance policies, underwriting performance and bookings for our new cruise ship, Spirit of Discovery.

"All of this underpins our confidence that we have put in place the right investment to drive the Saga business forward."

The company's interim results will be announced on 27 September 2018.