Full year trading forecasts and emissions cases on course, says Anexo
Anexo, the specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider with offices in Liverpool, Bolton and Leeds, issued updates for the year to December 31, 2023, today, and on its ongoing emissions legal actions against a range of motor manufacturers.
The board of the Liverpool-based group said it is trading in line with management forecasts and that pre-tax profit for the 2023 financial year is expected to be broadly in line with market expectations.
Regarding its emissions claims, the group revealed that, following a judgment by the President of the King’s Bench Division last month, a three-day consolidated hearing in the High Court last week heard submissions in respect of the case management for all diesel emissions cases.
All outstanding applications for Group Litigation Orders (GLO), for each respective manufacturer case, were heard and while they will be similar to those previously ordered in Mercedes, the board is awaiting confirmation from the Court of the Terms of such Orders.
At a five-day hearing in March, the Court will also provide further directions for the wider case management of the emissions cases as a whole, including to determine which two other manufacturers’ cases will be progressed at the same time as the Mercedes claims.
There will be a costs management hearing in May.
Further trial periods have been set – the first in October this year, which is likely to deal with common issues, which are not manufacturer specific, across the emissions cases, and the second in February 2025, which will be the first trial date for the Mercedes case.
Bond Turner continued its investment in litigation concerning the various Emission Claims throughout 2023.
It was announced in the Interim Results statement on August 22, 2023 that Bond Turner is acting for more than 12,000 claimants in the group action against Mercedes. As of December 31, 2023, Bond Turner is also acting for over 20,000 claimants against other manufacturers.
In the previous emissions action Bond Turner’s clients were not part of the GLO, which brought together a number of legal firms acting for different claimants.
In the current action, Bond Turner will form part of the respective GLOs, which should facilitate a more efficient legal process to achieve a quicker resolution to the cases.
Last August Anexo, headed by executive chairman, Alan Sellers, announced it had reached an agreement with car manufacturer, VW, concerning emissions claims.
The terms of the agreement were subject to confidentiality restrictions, but the group had announced in June that year that the agreement had resulted in a net positive cash position to Anexo of £7.2m.
