Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Group to constitute inside information for the purposes of Regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

26 July 2023

NAHL Group PLC

("NAHL" or the "Group")

Half Year Trading Update

NAHL (AIM: NAH), a leading marketing and services business focused on the UK consumer legal market, is pleased to provide a trading update for the first half of its current financial year, covering the six months to 30 June 2023 (the "Period").

Highlights

·      Revenue and profit in line with management expectations

·      178% more claims settled in National Accident Law than last year, resulting in a 77% increase in cash received from settlements

·      Market share gains by National Accident Helpline against an overall contraction in the personal injury claims market

·      Strong performance from Bush & Co., with expert reports up 15% and increase in personnel to meet growing demand

·      Net debt reduced by 13% to £11.6m (31 December 2022: £13.3m)

·      The Board expects the Group to meet market expectations for the full year

Group results

Group revenues for the Period are expected to be slightly ahead of last year at £21.0m (H1 2022: £20.7m). The Group's strategy to invest in new claims in its wholly-owned law firm, National Accident Law ("NAL") - which have a long life cycle but produce higher returns - and the planned reduction in claims still to settle in the joint venture partnerships is expected to result in operating profit of approximately £1.8m versus £2.3m in H1 2022.  This will also result in the charge to profit attributable to members' non-controlling interests in LLPs being lower than last year by 30% at £1.4m (H1 2022: £1.9m).  This is in keeping with our stated strategy of growing NAL, and in the short term these factors, along with increased borrowing costs due to the rise in UK interest rates, mean that the Group is expected to report a broadly breakeven result (before tax) for the Period (H1 2022: £0.1m profit before tax).

The Group has made substantial progress in reducing net debt and at 30 June 2023, net debt was £11.6m, down 13% from £13.3m at 31 December 2022 and down 20% from £14.5m at 30 June 2022. 

The Board expects the Group to meet market expectations for the full year.

Divisional performance

In the Consumer Legal Services division, the number of personal injury enquires generated by National Accident Helpline was the same as last year on a like-for-like basis¹, in a personal injury claims market that contracted by 1%.  As outlined in the Group's AGM statement on 25 May 2023, the business received a higher mix of road traffic accident ("RTA") enquiries in the Period versus last year, which took up the majority of the capacity in NAL.  The Group's agile placement model and strong demand for enquiries allowed excess non-RTA cases to be placed with its panel of third-party law firms although the Group continues to invest in capacity for non-RTA claims in NAL so that it can also process more of these in the future.

The total number of enquiries generated remained broadly in line with the prior year and the Group distributed 4,555 new enquiries into NAL (H1 2022: 4,531) in the Period.  The firm ended the Period processing 10,611 ongoing claims (31 December 2022: 10,860) after settling 178% more claims than last year (H1 2023: 1,738; H1 2022: 626).  Consequently, NAL increased cash from settlements by 77% to £2.7m (H1 2022: £1.5m), further demonstrating the growing maturity of the firm and contributing to the Group's overall reduction in net debt.

In the Group's Critical Care division, Bush & Co. traded strongly, and its ongoing marketing and business development activities continued to deliver results.  Expert witness services had a particularly strong six months with the number of expert witness reports issued up 15% in the Period, and in case management, the number of initial needs assessments delivered was up 5%.  To support the increased demand, the business recruited 40 new associates in the Period and added 3 new colleagues to its growing team of employed case managers. 

Publication of interim results

NAHL expects to announce its results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 in late September 2023.

James Saralis, CEO of NAHL, commented:

"We are pleased with the progress the business has made in the first half of the financial year. In line with our stated strategy, we have continued to reduce net debt and settled 178% more claims in the period than last year. Whilst the Personal Injury market remains stagnant, we believe that our industry-leading brand, National Accident Helpline, continues to take market share and our Critical Care business continues to go from strength to strength, issuing 15% more expert witness reports than the same time last year as well as recruiting 40 new associates to meet the growing demand. As a result, and notwithstanding the difficult macroeconomic environment, our full year expectations remain unchanged."

¹ Like-for-like enquiry numbers exclude tariff-only road traffic accident claims, which the Group ceased to process in February 2022. 

For further information:

Notes to Editors

NAHL Group plc (AIM: NAH) is a leader in the Consumer Legal Services market. The Group provides services and products to individuals and businesses in the through its two divisions:

·      Consumer Legal Services provides outsourced marketing services to law firms through National Accident Helpline and claims processing services to individuals through National Accident Law, Law Together and Your Law.  In addition, it also provides property searches through Searches UK.

·      Critical Care provides a range of specialist services in the catastrophic and serious injury market to both claimants and defendants through Bush & Co.

More information is available at www.nahlgroupplc.co.uk, www.national-accident-helpline.co.uk, www.national-accident-law.co.uk and www.bushco.co.uk.