Business
Update on Trading, PGM and Investment
Update on Trading, PGM and Investment.
About this update from Personal Group Holdings Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 5933D Personal Group Holdings PLC 07 July 2016 \n\n\n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n7 July 2016\n\n\n\n\n \nThis announcement contains price sensitive information \n \nPersonal Group Holdings Plc\n \n(\"the Company\" or \"the Group\")\n \nUpdate on Trading, PGM and Investment\n \nThe Company provides an update on trading for the six month period to 30 June 2016. The Group's core businesses of Insurance and PG Tech, its salary sacrifice technology business, have traded strongly over the first six months. The insurance business achieved record new sales of £6.2m (H1 2015: £5.5m) exceeding last year's record. We remain on target to launch Royal Mail as a PG Tech customer with a rollout currently being planned for September this year. All contractual elements have now been agreed and are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.\nFollowing a review of PG Mobile, the Company's Mobile Virtual Network Operator (\"MVNO\"), the Company has concluded that the market conditions have changed and will not allow for the expected run rate to be achieved. Wholesale pricing available to the business is not keeping pace with the fast moving market and uptake in salary sacrifice for mobiles is not meeting expectations. It is the Company's view that resources could be better deployed to other parts of the business and the Group therefore intends to close down PG Mobile by the end of the year. This decision will see the Company take a one off additional cost of £1m in the current financial year to allow for the carefully managed wind down of the activity. The Company has a full plan in place to manage its customers through the wind down.\nAs previously announced, the Company have signed a Letter of Intent with Sage (UK) Ltd (\"Sage\") for the development of a Sage Employee Benefits product and platform. The development is progressing well and the product is expected to be launched during the fourth quarter of this year, conditional on certain regulatory approvals. \nFollowing launch, the product is intended to be offered through Sage's payroll business, in the UK and Ireland. It is the intention to eventually widen the offering to Sage's entire UK and Ireland customer base. To achieve this, the investment required in this financial year is approximately £1 million which will fund the busi...