New business results for the year ended 30 June 2015
Hansard Global plc ("Hansard" or "the Group"), the specialist long-term savings provider, issues its new business results for the year ended 30 June 2015 ("FY 2015").
Summary
· We have continued to drive the implementation of our sales and distribution strategy and have seen increased levels of well diversified new business come through in Q4 FY 2015. In particular we have been pleased with new business streams in North Asia, the Middle East and Africa;
· New business in Q4 FY 2015 for Hansard International Limited ("Hansard International") was £19.8m in Present Value of New Business Premiums ("PVNBP") terms vs £10.9m (adjusted for assumption changes) in Q4 FY 2014 and £11.4m in Q3 FY 2015;
· New business for the full FY 2015 totalled £60.6m PVNBP. As expected, this has decreased from £83.0m in the previous year due to the effect of a large distributor in Japan ceasing to write business during FY 2014;
· As announced on 5 June 2015, we reached a full and final settlement of £1.4 million regarding liabilities for UK Chargeable Event Certificates with HMRC. After taking into account professional and advisory fees, this resulted in the release of £3.3m to the profit and loss account as a result of a provision of £5 million having been previously established;
· Writs totalling approximately £8.8m relating to legacy operations of Hansard Europe Limited ("Hansard Europe") are outstanding against the Group at 30 June 2015 (30 June 2014: £5.9m);
· The Group as a whole remains profitable and well capitalised.
Gordon Marr, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"With the strategic enhancements to our product range and distribution networks now complete, we have started to see encouraging signs of recovery after a challenging two years. Organic growth has increased significantly in Q4 and we see this continuing into FY 2016 to date. We are continuing to develop our presence in targeted locations where we believe that new licences could offer significant opportunities in the next 12 months. The Group remains profitable and is well capitalised to take advantage of the new business opportunities that we have identified."