Begbies issues trading update

Profit expected to be around £9.5m

In a trading update, the company said it expects results for the 12 months to April 30 to be much higher than a year ago, but added that the results would be at the lower end of current market expectations. 

Analysts are predicting full year profits of between £9.5m and £10.8m – well up on last year’s figure of £5.7m. 

The board expects its other activities to also show an improved performance this year, especially the corporate finance division which has undergone a recent restructuring.

‘Prospects for insolvency and corporate recovery remain very strong given the indicators from our Red Flag Alert early warning system which imply an increased flow of work for several years to come,’ said Ric Traynor, executive chairman.

Begbies’ insolvency division, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of group revenues, continued to show solid growth, while other divisions were seeing challenging market conditions.  An extra 40 staff have been recruited to the insolvency division over the past 12 months.

Operating cash inflows in the second half of the company’s financial year were significantly improved and the group’s net debt, excluding asset related finance, stood at £13.2m, well within the existing banking facilities of £25m. Total debt, including all sources of finance, is £17.7m.