REG - Hansard Global plc - Trading update for the quarter ended 30/09/2022

Hansard GlobalAnnouncement

03/11/2022 07:01

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RNS Number : 1103F  Hansard Global plc  03 November 2022

 

3 November 2022

 

 

 

Hansard Global plc

Trading update for the quarter ended 30 September 2022

 

Hansard Global plc ("Hansard" or "the Group"), the specialist long-term
savings provider, issues its trading update for the first quarter of its
financial year ended 30 June 2023 (Q1 FY 2023), being the period from 1 July
2022 to 30 September 2022.

Summary

·   New business for the quarter ended 30 September 2022 was £24.8m in
PVNBP ("Present Value of New Business Premiums") terms, in line with new
business of £24.8m in the quarter ended 30 June 2022 and down from £31.4m in
the quarter ended 30 September 2021;

·   Assets under administration were £1.1 billion as at 30 September 2022,
up £6.1m from that last reported as at 30 June 2022.

 

Graham Sheward, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

 

The overall environment has remained challenging for investment and long-term
savings plans. However, we are making good progress developing new
distribution opportunities.

 

In our largest region, Middle East and Africa, new business was up 2.8%.  We
are beginning to see some of the fruits of our investment in this region where
we have recruited additional  regional sales management.  We are working
closely with a number of new distribution partners on new customer segments
and product initiatives.

 

New business in Latin America was up 17.6% as the improving trend in that
region continued.  Similar to the Middle East and Africa region, we are
working on building business with new distribution partners to supplement our
existing distribution.

 

The Rest of World region was down 59.6% due to a decline in single premium
business and business acceptance restrictions arising out of the
Russia-Ukraine conflict.

 

The 55.6% reduction in Far East business reflects a fluctuating smaller base
of new business which experienced a spike in the prior year comparative. We
have recently relocated a regional sales manager to our branch in Malaysia to
drive business growth in this region.

 

In order to counteract this challenging environment, we have been expanding
our distribution relationships, adding additional regional sales managers to
our team and developing new product propositions across our product range. We
expect to launch a new proposition in the Middle East on our new
administration system in 2023 to assist growing our business in that market.

 

We also continue to make encouraging progress with various distribution
opportunities for our Japanese proposition and remain optimistic for the
significant potential in that jurisdiction.

 

Lastly, we were delighted to win four industry awards at the 2022
International Investment awards in October.  These were in the areas of
customer service and technology, where Hansard strives to differentiate
itself.  The awards won were for "Excellence in Fintech", "Excellence in
Client Service - Asia", "Excellence in Client Service - Africa" and
"Excellence in Client Service - Overall".

 

 

For further information:

Hansard Global plc
                         +44 (0) 1624 688 000

Graham Sheward, Group Chief Executive Officer

Tim Davies, Chief Financial Officer

Email: investor-relations@hansard.com

Camarco
                                   +44 (0) 7990 653 341

Ben Woodford, Hugo Liddy

 

Hansard Global PLC

TRADING UPDATE for the quarter ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

 

 

OVERVIEW

The Group continues to focus on the distribution of regular and single premium
savings and investment products in a range of jurisdictions around the world.

The external global environment and the ability for our IFA-distribution to
sell long-term savings products continues to be challenging as economic
confidence fluctuates.

In Present Value of New Business Premiums ("PVNBP") terms, new business for
the quarter ended 30 September 2022 was in line with new business in the
quarter ended 30 June 2022 of £24.8m and down from £31.4m (or 21.0%) in the
quarter ended 30 September 2021.

In Annualised Premium Equivalent ("APE") terms, the decline from the quarter
ended 30 September 2021 was 12.2%.

The PVNBP result was negatively impacted by our annual update of the
applicable discount rate to be applied to future premium inflows.  A higher
discount rate as a result of the current tightening global interest rate
environment resulted in a lower present value of future regular premiums.
 Without this change in assumption, PVNBP would have been £26.5m or 15.6%
lower than the prior year comparative.

In addition, a significantly lower proportion of single premiums written has a
greater impact to the PVNBP metric compared to the APE metric.

 

New Business Flows

New business flows on our key reported metrics were as follows:

                                                         Quarter ended
                                                         30 September
                                                         2022   2021   %
 Basis                                                   £m     £m     change
 Present Value of New Business Premiums                  24.8   31.4   (21.0%)
 Annualised Premium Equivalent                           3.6    4.1    (12.2%)

 

Present Value of New Business Premiums ("PVNBP")

New business flows on the basis of PVNBP are analysed in the following two
tables as follows:

                                        Quarter ended
                                        30 September
                                        2022   2021   %
 PVNBP by product type                  £m     £m     change
 Regular premium                        17.1   18.9   (9.5%)
 Single premium                         7.7    12.5   (38.4%)
 Total                                  24.8   31.4   (21.0%)

 

 

                                             Quarter ended
                                             30 September
                                             2022   2021   %
 PVNBP by geographical area                  £m     £m     change
 Middle East and Africa                      11.0   10.7   2.8%
 Latin America                               8.0    6.8    17.6%
 Rest of World                               3.8    9.4    (59.6%)
 Far East                                    2.0    4.5    (55.6%)
 Total                                       24.8   31.4   (21.0%)

 

 

ASSETS UNDER ADMINISTRATION ("AuA")

The composition and value of AuA is based upon the assets selected by or on
behalf of contract holders to meet their savings and investment needs.
 Reflecting the wide geographical spread of the Group's customer base, the
majority of premium contributions and AuA are designated in currencies other
than sterling. Over 60% of Group AuA are denominated in US dollars.

The total of such assets is affected by the level of new premium contributions
received from new and existing policy contracts, the amount of assets
withdrawn by contract holders, charges and the effect of investment market and
currency movements. These factors ultimately affect the level of fund-based
income earned by the Group.  Net withdrawals are typically experienced in
Hansard Europe dac ("Hansard Europe"), which closed to new business in 2013.
 

During the quarter ended 30 September 2022, AuA increased marginally by £6.1m
to £1.1 billion.  Lower single premium contributions and stock market
declines were more than offset by positive US Dollar movements against
Sterling during the period. The following analysis shows the components of the
movement in AuA during the quarter:

                                                                         Quarter ended
                                                                      30 September
                                                                  2022           2021
                                                                  £m             £m
 Deposits to investment contracts - regular premiums              21.7           20.9
 Deposits to investment contracts - single premiums               7.8            12.6
 Withdrawals from contracts and charges                           (39.2)         (41.5)
 Effect of market and currency movements                          15.8           3.2
 Increase in period                                               6.1            (4.8)
 Opening balance                                                  1,092.3        1,224.2
 Assets under Administration at 30 September                      1,098.4        1,219.4

 

The movement in AuA is split as follows between Hansard International
(incorporating business reinsured from Hansard Worldwide) and Hansard Europe:

                                                  Quarter ended
                                                30 September
                                            2022          2021
                                            £m            £m
 Hansard International                      7.7           (3.0)
 Hansard Europe                             (1.6)         (1.8)
 Increase/(decrease) in period              6.1           (4.8)

 

Results for the HALF-year ENDing 31 DECEMBER 2022

New business results for the half year ending 31 December 2022 are expected to
be announced on 26 January 2023.  Trading results for the half year are
expected to be announced on 9 March 2023.

Notes to editors:

·    Hansard Global plc is the holding company of the Hansard Group of
companies. The Company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in December
2006. The Group is a specialist long-term savings provider, based in the Isle
of Man.

·    The Group offers a range of flexible and tax-efficient investment
products within a life assurance policy wrapper, designed to appeal to
affluent, international investors.

·    The Group utilises a controlled cost distribution model via a network
of independent financial advisors and the retail operations of certain
financial institutions who provide access to their clients in more than 170
countries. The Group's distribution model is supported by Hansard OnLine, a
multi-language internet platform, and is scalable.

·    The principal geographic markets in which the Group currently services
contract holders and financial advisors are the Middle East & Africa, the
Far East and Latin America. These markets are served by Hansard International
Limited and Hansard Worldwide Limited.

 

·    Hansard Europe dac previously operated in Western Europe but closed to
new business with effect from 30 June 2013.

·    The Group's objective is to grow by attracting new business and
positioning itself to adapt rapidly to market trends and conditions. The
scalability and flexibility of the Group's operations allow it to enter or
develop new geographic markets and exploit growth opportunities within
existing markets without the need for significant further investment.

 

Forward-looking statements:

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect
to certain of Hansard Global plc's plans and its current goals and
expectations relating to future financial condition, performance and results.
By their nature forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties
because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond
Hansard Global plc's control. As a result, Hansard Global plc's actual future
condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals
and expectations set out in Hansard Global plc's forward-looking statements.
Hansard Global plc does not undertake to update forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement or any other forward-looking statement it may
make. No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or
be relied upon as a guide for future performance.

 

This announcement contains inside information which is disclosed in accordance
with the Market Abuse Regime.

 

Legal Entity Identifier: 213800ZJ9F2EA3Q24K05

 

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