THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT
FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART,
DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA,
CANADA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, JAPAN, ANY MEMBER STATE OF
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA OR ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH IT WOULD BE
UNLAWFUL TO DO SO.
LEI: 2549008KZ7HM27V4O637
5 December 2024
InvestAcc Group
Limited
Trading Update and Change in
Financial Year End
InvestAcc Group continues to
deliver strong organic growth and award winning levels of customer
service
InvestAcc Group Limited
("InvestAcc", the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the
"Group"), a specialist pensions administrator, is pleased to
provide a trading update and announce a change in its financial
year end.
Business Unit Operating Performance
Highlights
On 9 October 2024, the Company
completed the acquisition of InvestAcc Holdings Limited (the
"Acquisition")
following FCA change in control approval. Operating performance
highlights for the Acquisition for the twelve months to 31 October
2024 were: -
· Total
revenue increased 15% to £10.1m, building on the strong performance
of 14% growth in FY23 and 11% in FY22
· Pension administration revenue growth of 15% to £5.1m,
representing 50% of total revenue
· Addition of 1,868 new pensions schemes bringing the total to
12,195, growth of over 18%
· EBITDA
increased 19% to £4.2m (FY23: £3.6m) with cash conversion in line
with previous years
· Total
assets under administration in excess of £5bn (FY23:
£4bn)
· Maintained industry-leading customer retention rates of over
96%
· Continued service quality recognition through multiple
industry awards in the last quarter:
o Moneyfacts Best SIPP Provider for 2024 (fifth time
winning)
o Moneyfacts Best Pension Services for 2024 (fifth consecutive
time winning)
o FT
Adviser 5 Star Pensions and Protection Advisor for 2024 (seventh
time winning)
Group Update
· Group
EBITDA margin is targeted to be 30%* in FY25 with cash conversion
in line with previous years
· The
board has determined that the Group year-end will change to 31
December
· As
announced on 16 October 2024, the appointment of Giovanni Castagno,
Helen Copinger-Symes and Martin Potkins as Independent
Non-Executive Directors to strengthen governance to support the
Group's growth strategy.
* this is a target for the year
ending 31 December 2025, not a profit forecast.
Chairman, Mark Hodges, commented:
"We are pleased our first acquisition
continues to deliver significant organic growth and excellent
customer service which is testament to the InvestAcc team. Given
the quality of the acquired business and the strength of our market
position, we remain excited about prospects for future
growth".
Market Position and Growth Strategy
InvestAcc aims to become the UK's
leading specialist pensions administrator, serving both business
customers (wealth managers and financial advisers) and direct
clients. Recent FCA analysis1 demonstrates the scale of
our market opportunity:
· Total
SIPP Operator assets under administration: £567bn
· Platform-based SIPP assets: £204bn
· Traditional SIPP Operator assets: £184bn (up from £130bn in
2022)
· Total
consumer base: approximately 5.3m
Our business model benefits
from:
· Fixed
fee-based service revenues, providing protection from financial
market volatility
· Expected customer lifetime value exceeding 25 years
· Commitment to fair customer outcomes from treasury
services
· Industry-leading customer service performance
M&A Strategy and Regulatory Environment
We remain highly confident of the opportunity
to acquire customer books and operating businesses that will enable
us to scale significantly and continue to deliver growth over the
coming years enabled by the excellent operational platform and
growth characteristics already demonstrated by
InvestAcc.
M&A and
Integration Platform
The leadership team has the ability to
originate these opportunities from a range of sources, from
owner-operators through to banks and life companies, through their
significant relationships and reputations within the
industry.
The assessment and due diligence carried out on
these opportunities remains a fundamental part of both risk
mitigation and future integration planning. The ability to manage
the integration of these businesses and transfer of customers
efficiently, ensuring the quality of the customer experience, is
fundamental to the M&A strategy while also driving long-term
financial and other operating efficiencies.
Pension Market
and Recent HMRC Consultation
We note the treatment of pensions for
inheritance tax purposes, which we do not expect to have a negative
impact on our business. We are monitoring the current technical
consultation on the role of the pension administrator. We believe
our role as a specialist pension administrator continues to be
reinforced by legislative proposals such as this, with the
potential responsibilities only improving the prospects and
opportunities for high-quality operators, as well as potentially
increasing the scope and scale of services we will offer our
clients.
Change in
Financial Year End
The board has determined that the
Group year-end will change to 31 December. The change will align
the Group and each of its subsidiary companies to a single year
end.
As a result of the change, the
Group's current financial period will comprise six months from 1
July 2024 to 31 December 2024. The Board intends to report as
follows, in each case with appropriate comparatives:
· Audited final results for the six months to 31 December 2024 -
publication by 30 April 2025
· Unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June 2025 -
publication by 30 September 2025
1FCA 2024 SIPP's data request
completed in July 2024
Enquiries:
Company Secretary - + 44
(0) 207 004 2700
Antoinette Vanderpuije
FGS
Global - PR Adviser
Rollo Head
07768 994 987
Chris Sibbald 07855 955 531
Panmure Liberum Limited (Corporate Broker) - + 44 (0) 203
100 2000
Chris Clarke / Ed Thomas / Anake
Singh
Zeus Capital Limited (Corporate Broker) - + 44 (0) 207
220 1666
Harry Ansell / Katy
Mitchell
