RNS Number : 7240A
Accident Exchange Group PLC
06 August 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6 August 2008
Accident Exchange Group Plc
("Accident Exchange" or the "Company")
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
The Board of Accident Exchange is today releasing its Annual General Meeting and Interim
Management Statement for the trading period
from 1 May 2008 to 31 July 2008.
The following statement will be read by the Chairman at the Annual General Meeting of the
Company being held today at 11:00 am at the
offices of DLA Piper UK LLP, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4DL. The
result of the voting on all resolutions will be
announced later today.
"Trading in the first quarter of the year has been in line with management's expectations.Rental days in the first quarter increased to
307,000 compared to 251,000 for the same period last year and were little changed from 311,000
in the seasonally strong preceding quarter.
Utilisation for the first quarter of the year has improved to 65% from 61% in the comparative
period last year and 64% in the preceding
quarter. The proportion of prestige vehicle revenue has also recovered to 82% in the first
quarter from 80% in the preceding quarter and
81% in the comparative period last year. Margins have benefited from these operational
improvements and also from the effect of improved
hire rates with effect from 1 June 2008 as a result of the agreed 3.5% increase in rental day
rates under the ABI General Terms of
Agreement.
"Working capital headroom at 31 July 2008 remains strong at £28.9 million with an
incremental £0.6m vehicle disposal proceeds due at the
quarter end. The Board continues to expect further improvement in cash collection rates and is
seeing the benefits of the litigation
strategy which was initiated in January 2008. Collections carried out internally were £33.0m
in the first quarter compared to £26.8m in the
comparative period last year and £33.2m recorded in the preceding quarter. Cash collected
from our litigation panel was £6.6m in the first
quarter compared to £1.4m in the comparative period last year and £4.8m recorded in the
preceding quarter."
ENDS
CONTACTS:
Accident Exchange Group Plc
Steve Evans, Chief Executive 08700-116 719
Martin Andrews, Group Finance Director 08700-053 649
Landsbanki Securities (UK) Ltd 020-7426-9000
Shaun Dobson or Tom Hulme
Bankside
Steve Liebmann or Simon Bloomfield 020-7367-8888
About Accident Exchange
Based in Coleshill, West Midlands, Accident Exchange delivers accident management and
other solutions to automotive and insurance
related sectors. Fully listed, the stock code is LSE: ACE. For further information on
Accident Exchange, please visit the company's
website: www.accidentexchange.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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