21 May 2024
Begbies Traynor Group
plc
Year end trading
update
Notice of full year
results
Begbies Traynor Group plc (the
'company' or the 'group'), the professional services consultancy,
announces an update on trading for its financial year ended 30
April 2024.
Strong financial performance - ninth successive year of growth
in profits
· Revenue expected to increase by c.12% to c.£136m (2023:
£121.8m)
· Adjusted EBITDA expected to increase by c.9% to c.£29m (2023:
£26.6m), ahead of market expectations**
o Margins improved across both
business recovery and property services offset by subdued M&A
transactions in corporate finance and investment to support ongoing
growth
· Adjusted PBT expected to increase by c.6% to c.£22m (2023:
£20.7m), having absorbed increased finance costs
· Net
debt lower than anticipated at £1.4m on 30 April 2024 (2023: net
cash of £3.0m), demonstrating strong free cash flow, having paid
acquisition consideration of £8m and funded £3m of EBT share
purchases***
* All numbers in
this statement are subject to audit
** Market expectations (as compiled by
the company): revenue of £134.0m-£135.2m,
adjusted EBITDA £27.7m-£28.4m, adjusted PBT of £21.9m-£22.5m, net
debt of £2.0m-£3.2m
*** Employee Benefit Trust (EBT)
trading plan as announced on 14 December 2023
Growth across both divisions
· Business recovery and advisory - revenue growth of
c.7%
o Business recovery teams had a
successful year with c.13% revenue growth
§
Activity levels increased across all case
sizes
§
Added capacity to the team through recruitment and
acquisition
§
Market leading position maintained (by volume)
with national market volumes continuing to increase in current
interest rate and inflation environment
o Resilient advisory performance
with financing and restructuring engagements mitigating the
previously reported reduction in M&A transactions
· Property advisory and transactional services - revenue growth
of c.25%
o Strong growth in the year
driven by both acquisitions and organic development
o Growth delivered across all
core disciplines of valuation, asset sales and
consultancy
· Invested in teams to support ongoing growth in the group
including:
o Talent development and
wellbeing support
o IT and programme management
capability
o Third party software
applications to automate and improve processes
Value-accretive acquisitions performing well
Four acquisitions completed in the
financial year, adding over £9m in pro-forma revenue to the group
(in year revenue contribution c£5m):
· Banks
Long & Co, a general chartered surveyors practice, based in
Lincoln;
· Cardiff-based insolvency team from Jones Giles & Clay,
joining the group's existing Cardiff office;
· Andrew
Forbes, a property valuation practice based in Bristol;
and
· SDL
auctions, a national firm of property auctioneers headquartered in
Nottingham.
All acquisitions complement the group's current service offerings whilst
strengthening our regional presence, with their
integration and trading performance in line
with expectations.
Strong balance sheet with significant headroom under new debt
facility
· Net
debt of £1.4m at 30 April 2024 (2023: net cash of £3.0m)
o Reflects better than
anticipated cash generation in the final quarter
o Strong free cash
flow
o After acquisition
consideration of £8m and £3m of EBT share purchases***
· New
£35m debt facility agreed with HSBC as announced in February 2024,
which replaced the group's previous facility which was due to
mature in August 2025. The key terms are:
o £25m committed, unsecured
revolving credit facility (unchanged)
o £10m accordion facility
(increased from £5m), allowing further debt capacity to support the
group's growth strategy
o Overall facility costs broadly
in line with the previous facility
Notice of results
The group will report its final
results for the year ended 30 April 2024 on Tuesday 9 July 2024.
There will be an analyst presentation at 9.00am on the day in
London. Please contact begbies@mhpgroup.com if you would like to
receive details.
Ric
Traynor, Executive Chairman of Begbies Traynor Group plc,
commented:
"We have
delivered another strong performance, with EBITDA ahead of market
expectations and net debt lower than anticipated. This was driven
by increased activity levels in business recovery, which maintained
its market-leading position by volume, and very strong growth
across our property advisory and transactional services
teams.
"The group's cash generation,
combined with the significant headroom within our new debt
facility, provides us with the flexibility to execute our strategy
to continue to grow our scale and range of services both
organically and through acquisition.
"We expect business recovery
activity levels to remain strong, combined with a recovery in
M&A activities and the continued growth across our property
services business. We are therefore confident of continuing to
build upon our long track record of growth in the current year and
beyond."
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. The person responsible for arranging
the release of this announcement on behalf of Begbies Traynor Group
plc is Nick Taylor, its Group Finance Director
Enquiries please contact:
Begbies Traynor Group plc
0161 837 1700
Ric Traynor - Executive
Chairman
Nick Taylor - Group Finance
Director
Canaccord Genuity Limited
020 7523 8350
(Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker)
Emma Gabriel / Harry
Pardoe
Shore Capital
020
7408 4090
(Joint Broker)
Malachy McEntyre / Mark Percy /
Anita Ghanekar / James Thomas
MHP
Communications
07827 662831
Reg Hoare / Katie Hunt / Charles
Hirst
begbies@mhpgroup.com
Information on Begbies Traynor Group
can be accessed via the group's website at
ir.begbies-traynorgroup.com