Business recovery firm posts increase in revenues and profits
Business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor saw revenue growth up by 21 per cent over the last 12 months.
The Manchester firm has published its half year results this morning.
Adjusted profit before tax was £4m – an increase of £1m.
The company saw revenue growth of 21 per cent. Ten per cent was organic while an improved operating profit margin accounted for 13.2% of growth.
Insolvency volumes nationally have continued to increase in the period, with the underlying number of corporate insolvencies increasing by seven per cent in the twelve months ended 30 September 2019 to 16,857.
The development of both divisions continued, with investment in new fee earning staff and teams
Begbies completed three acquisitions towards the end of the period, enhancing both divisions.
The acquisitions were:
• Alexander Lawson Jacobs – a London-based insolvency and business recovery practice;
• Ernest Wilson – a business sales agency, operating across a broad range of sectors ranging from food outlets and convenience stores to care homes, restaurants and hotels; and
• Regeneratus – an advisory practice with expertise in restructuring, turnaround and legal issues.
The firm raised net proceeds of £7.8m in placing in July 2019: meeting investor demand and funding acquisitions.
Begbies says it is confident of delivering results at least in line with current expectations with a further year of growth.
Ric Traynor, executive chairman of Begbies Traynor Group, said: “I am pleased to report a strong half year financial performance with growth in revenue and earnings, together with improved operating margins.
“This reflects the benefit of the recent organic development of the group and our investment in acquisitions.
“The increased scale of the group’s activities, favourable conditions in the UK insolvency market and our strong financial position leaves the group well placed to continue our track record of revenue and profit growth.
“Following a strong financial performance in the first half of the year, the board remains confident of delivering results at least in line with current market expectations for the full year, including the benefit of the first-time contribution in the second half from our recent acquisitions.”
Begbies will provide an update on third quarter trading in early March 2020.
Begbies Traynor has also announced the appointment of Peter Wilhelm Wallqvist to the board as an additional non-executive director with immediate effect. Peter has significant digital transformation experience.
Peter, 42, has spent his career in information technology.
He joined BT Research as a graduate engineer in 2003, and from there he went on to deliver a number of high-profile IT projects in the US and Europe at organisations such as Bloomberg and GlaxoSmithKline.
In 2010, he co-founded and became chief executive at the AI company RAVN Systems, to build and deliver a platform to drive digital transformation initiatives in the professional services industry.
