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ABB Abbey Protect.

114.50
0.00 (0.00%)
Last Updated: 00:00:00
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Stock Type
Abbey Protect. ABB London Ordinary Share
  Price Change Price Change % Share Price Last Trade
0.00 0.00% 114.50 00:00:00
Open Price Low Price High Price Close Price Previous Close
114.50
more quote information »

Abbey Protection ABB Dividends History

No dividends issued between 28 Mar 2014 and 28 Mar 2024

Top Dividend Posts

Top Posts
Posted at 31/1/2014 11:20 by masurenguy
Crest accounts were credited on schedule today, with the proceeds from the acquisition of Abbey Protection by Markel Capital Holdings. The amount credited was 115p per share. Open Spread positions with IG Index will close automatically @115p as soon as they receive hedged funds from their broker, which could be later today or next week. I assume other Spread Betting companies will close positions on a similar timeframe.

At an average buying price of 69p I locked in an overall capital gain of 46p or 66.7% plus 24.4p in dividends, so I doubled my money in just under 5 years. Not spectacular - I have other shares notably ETO, CMS, GBO, PHTM and RNWH that have delivered much higher growth rates over a shorter timescale - but nevertheless ABB was a very solid and dependable share with a good yield. I also obtained a 2.7% arbitrage bonus (equivalent to an annualised return of 11.1%) by taking a spread position @112p in early November, when the price slipped after some existing impatient holders sold out early. This was my 5th largest holding so it is now a question of where to reinvest the proceeds!

Good luck to exiting ABB shareholders & success in redeploying these funds.
Posted at 04/11/2013 15:30 by masurenguy
Everything still on track here !

RNS Number : 1563S
Abbey Protection PLC
04 November 2013

RECOMMENDED CASH ACQUISITION of Abbey Protection plc

by Markel Capital Holdings Limited

Posting of Scheme Document

On 9 October 2013, the boards of Markel Capital Holdings Limited ("Markel"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Markel Corporation, and Abbey Protection plc ("Abbey Protection" or the "Company") announced that they had reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Abbey Protection by Markel (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is to be implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme").

Under the terms of the Acquisition, Abbey Protection Shareholders will be entitled to receive 115 pence in cash for each Abbey Protection Share (the "Acquisition Price"), valuing the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Abbey Protection at approximately £116.5 million.

Abbey Protection is today posting a circular (the "Scheme Document") to the holders of Abbey Protection Shares, and, for information only, to Abbey Protection Share Incentive Scheme Participants and persons with information rights, together with the associated Forms of Proxy. The Scheme Document contains notices convening the Court Meeting and General Meeting and contains, amongst other things, the full terms and conditions of the Scheme, an Explanatory Statement pursuant to section 897 of the Companies Act 2006, an expected timetable of principal events and details of the actions to be taken by Abbey Protection Shareholders. The expected timetable of principal events is attached as an appendix to this announcement. An announcement will be made if any key dates set out in the expected timetable change.

To become Effective, the Scheme will need to be approved at the Court Meeting and will require the passing of a special resolution at the General Meeting, in each case, by the requisite majorities, as described in the Scheme Document. The Scheme is also subject to the satisfaction or, if capable of waiver, waiver of the other Conditions set out in Part III of the Scheme Document, including the receipt of any required approvals from, or the expiry of any applicable waiting periods imposed by, the FCA, the SRA and the GFSC. Notices for the Court Meeting and the General Meeting are set out in the Scheme Document. The Court Meeting and the General Meeting will both be held at the offices of Eversheds LLP, One Wood Street, London EC2V 7WS on 2 December 2013. The Court Meeting will start at 11.00 a.m. and the General Meeting will start at 11.15 a.m. (or as soon thereafter as the Court Meeting has been concluded or adjourned).

Abbey Protection Share Scheme Participants will be sent further details of the impact (if any) of the Scheme on their options and proposals being made to them on the date of this announcement. Holders of Abbey Protection Shares should carefully read the Scheme Document in its entirety before making a decision with respect to the Scheme.

The Scheme Document will today be made available on Abbey Protection's website at www.abbeyprotectionplc.com and additional copies are available from Computershare who can be contacted on 0870 707 1682 or, if calling from outside the UK +44 870 707 1682.

Appendix

EXPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS

The dates given are based on Abbey Protection's current expectations and may be subject to change. If the expected date of the Court Hearing is changed, Abbey Protection will give notice of such change by issuing an announcement through a Regulatory Information Service and posting notice of the change to Abbey Protection Shareholders. All Abbey Protection Shareholders have the right to attend the Court Hearing. All times shown in this document are London times unless otherwise stated.

Event. Time and/or date

Latest time for lodging Forms of Proxy for the:

Court Meeting (blue form)
11.00 a.m. on 28 November 2013(1)

General Meeting (white form)
11.15 a.m. on 28 November 2013(2)

Voting Record Time
6.00 p.m. on 28 November 2013(3)

Court Meeting
11.00 a.m. on 2 December 2013

General Meeting
11.15 a.m. on 2 December 2013(4)

Scheme Court Hearing (to sanction the Scheme)
14 January 2014

Last day of dealings and registration of transfers and disablement in CREST of Abbey Protection Shares
16 January 2014

Dealings in Abbey Protection Shares on AIM suspended
5.00 p.m. on 16 January 2014

Scheme Record Time
6.00 p.m. on 16 January 2014

Reduction Court Hearing (to confirm Capital Reduction)
17 January 2014

Effective Date of the Scheme
17 January 2014

Cancellation of admission to trading on AIM of, and cessation of dealings in, Abbey Protection Shares
7.00 a.m. on 20 January 2014

Dispatch of cheques and crediting of CREST accounts for cash consideration due under the Scheme
by 31 January 2014

Long Stop Date
30 April 2014
Posted at 09/10/2013 08:15 by masurenguy
DD - I already stated that only those who bought in for the very first time over the past month will make a small loss and that would probably be less than 5% for some after the dividend is taken into account.

Greenroom - the offer of a "small premium" is down to Markel, not Abbey, and at 123p the gesture would have cost them another £8m or 7%. This is the real world and an acquiror is not going to be concerned about whether investors who bought at a slightly higher price over the past month might make a very small loss. ABB could not have done anything over the past month to surpress the price without compromising the confidentiality of the proposed deal. If they had announced that they had received an undisclosed approach then the share price could quite easily have shot up to 130p/140p in anticipation resulting in a bigger loss for bandwagon traders.

I'm also disappointed with the price, which I would have liked to have seen at least 10% higher, but I don't blame management for taking the deal on the table and cashing in their chips. What would you have done in their position ?
Posted at 21/5/2013 20:10 by masurenguy
Abbey Protection announces special dividend totalling £5m

Ordinary shareholders will receive 5p per share

Abbey Protection is to pay a special dividend of 5p per ordinary share. The dividend will be payable to all ordinary shareholders as at 31 May and will be paid on 21 June. The total amount paid out by the insurance and consultancy group will total £5m. In a statement released today Abbey Protection said: "The board is committed to generating attractive and sustainable financial returns for shareholders and follows a progressive ordinary dividend policy. The group's balance sheet and cash generation remain strong, with no debt funding obligations to service. While the economic outlook remains difficult to predict with any certainty, the board believes that the group has more than adequate resources to fund future investment in the business, to sustain growth in ordinary dividends and to fund bolt-on acquisitions from remaining cash balances and future free cash flow."

Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said: "The prospects for the group remain strong, in particular from: continued growth in the tax unit; stabilisation of Ibex's loss ratios and from product innovation.
In the meantime, the granting of an alternative business structure licence and subsequent acquisition of law firm Lewis Hymanson, offers the legal unit the opportunity to provide a wider range of legal services to its own SME and also larger clients."
Posted at 21/5/2013 06:06 by masurenguy
What a great surprise - especially as there was no recent prior indication that this was under consideration by management. This is one of the advantages of a substantial inside ownership (still circa 50%) which aligns the interests of management with external shareholdersa.

Abbey Protection PLC
RNS Number : 1542F
21 May 2013

Special Dividend

Abbey Protection plc is pleased to announce that the Board has approved the return of approximately £5 million to shareholders by way of special dividend of 5 pence per ordinary share which will be payable on 21 June 2013 to shareholders on the register at 31 May 2013, the ex-dividend date being 29 May 2013.

Background

The Board is committed to generating attractive and sustainable financial returns for shareholders and follows a progressive ordinary dividend policy. The Group's balance sheet and cash generation remains strong with no debt funding obligations to service. Whilst the economic outlook remains difficult to predict with any certainty, the Board believes that the Group has more than adequate resources to fund future investment in the business, to sustain growth in ordinary dividends and to fund bolt-on acquisitions from remaining cash balances and future free cash flow.
Posted at 26/3/2013 09:03 by masurenguy
Annual sales up 7%, eps up 4%, cash up 8%, shareholders funds up 12% and dividends up 11%. Another solid and progressive performance from Abbey and the benefits of their new
ABS licence should start to appear in as new legal services are introduced during 2013.

RNS Number : 8328A
Abbey Protection PLC
26 March 2013

Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2012

Abbey Protection plc ("Abbey Protection" or the "Group"), the specialist supplier of legal and professional fees insurance products and services to UK small-to-medium sized enterprises, today announces preliminary results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2012.

Highlights

· 3% growth in pre-tax profits to £10.3m

· Total revenue up 7% to £38.7m

· 2% increase in EBITDA to £10.9m

· Claims ratio of 69.0% (2011: 65.2%)

· Cash and financial investment balances of £42.6m (2011: £39.4m)

· Balance sheet remains strong with shareholders' funds up 12% to £32.3m

· Second dividend of 2.8p. total dividend for the year up 11% at 4.9p (2011: 4.4p)

· Outlook positive, with significant opportunities for specialist legal and tax services

Colin Davison, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The resilience of our business model has once again stood the Group in good stead against some expected strong headwinds in 2012 and I'm delighted to report another year of revenue and profit growth, driven by a robust performance from our core legal and tax divisions. The granting of an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) Licence at the start of 2013 and the subsequent acquisition of Lewis Hymanson Small Solicitors LLP (LHS) will finally enable us to provide a wider range of legal services to our SME clients. This, combined with the on-going development of our specialist tax services, our balance sheet strength and continued risk management focus, means we enter 2013 well positioned to deliver further profitable growth."

Tony Shearer, Chairman, commented: "The underlying performance of the Group and the exciting opportunities available from the freeing up of the legal service market give us renewed confidence for the year ahead. Our shareholders continue to benefit from the progressive distribution policy, with the second interim dividend, payable on 11 April 2013, making a total distribution in respect of 2012 of 4.9p a share, representing an increase of 11% over 2011."
Posted at 05/3/2013 07:48 by masurenguy
Overall dividend increase of 11.4% over last year.

RNS Number : 1951Z
Abbey Protection PLC
05 March 2013

Dividend Declaration: Second Interim dividend for year ended 31 December 2012

The Board of Abbey Protection plc is pleased to announce a second interim dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2012. The second interim dividend of 2.8p per share will be paid on 11 April 2013 to all shareholders on the register at the close of business on 15 March 2013 (ex-dividend date 13 March 2013). This brings the total dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2012 to 4.9p (2011: 4.4p), representing an increase of 11.4% over the year ended 31 December 2011.
Posted at 10/1/2013 21:23 by masurenguy
RNS Number : 2114V
Abbey Protection PLC
10 January 2013

Trading Update and Dividend Timetable

Abbey Protection Plc, the specialist supplier of legal and professional fees insurance and services products, is pleased to announce that it expects its results for the year ended 31 December 2012 to be in line with market expectations. Abbey Protection's CEO, Colin Davison, said: "We are viewing 2013 with cautious optimism and expect that the underlying strength of our core divisions (Abbey Legal and Abbey Tax Protection), coupled with a trading subsidiary being granted an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licence from 1 January 2013 (allowing us to offer a wider range of legal services), will enable continued growth in the Group's profitability".

Abbey Protection will announce its results for the year ended 31 December 2012 on 26 March 2013.
The board is also pleased to confirm the timetable for the second interim dividend as follows:

Announcement Date: 5 March 2013

Ex-Dividend Date: 13 March 2013

Record Date: 15 March 2013
Posted at 04/9/2012 06:29 by masurenguy
Further good progress during H1. An increase in revenue, profits and eps, cash & cash equivalents up by 18% to £20.4m, further improvement in cashflow and interim dividend increased by 11%. The company is still waiting for their ABS license from the SRA but is hopeful that this could be approved during H2 which would open up further revenue and income streams thereafter.

RNS Number : 4042L
Abbey Protection PLC
04 September 2012

Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2012

Highlights

· 3% growth in pre-tax profits to £5.2m

· Total revenue up 5% to £19.2m

· Claims ratio at 69.7%

· Earnings per share up 4% to 3.95p

· Shareholders' funds up to £30.4m

· Interim dividend increased by 11% to 2.1p per share (2011: 1.9p per share)

· Outlook positive with significant opportunities for specialist legal and tax services

Colin Davison, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "These results once again demonstrate the resilience of the Group's businesses in challenging economic conditions. The Group's principal trading divisions, driven by an excellent performance from Abbey Tax Protection, have produced another period of revenue and profits growth. The robust nature of our business model and the exciting opportunities to expand our range of legal and tax services underpin our confidence in increasing the interim dividend by 11%."

Chief Executive's Statement

We approached 2012 with a degree of caution in the light of some expected headwinds in the business and the challenging wider economic climate, so a 5% increase in revenue to £19.2m (2011: £18.3m) and a 3% increase in pre tax profits to £5.2m (2011: £5.0m) represent an encouraging result. A strong performance from the Tax division helped our principal trading divisions (Abbey Legal and Abbey Tax) to increase profits by 10% to £3.1m (2011: £2.8m) and off-set the anticipated down turn in the Ibex results where profits dropped 8% to £2m (2011: £2.1m).

Current trading - principal trading divisions

Abbey Tax Protection ("ATP") delivered excellent results with profit before tax for the period increasing by 17% to £1.8m. Whilst sales from our core fee protection product remained strong, the key drivers behind the growth for ATP were sales of our specialist consultancy and tax planning insurance products.
Although profits for Abbey Legal, comprising Abbey Legal Protection ("ALP") and Abbey Legal Services ("ALS"), were flat for the period at £1.2m, this represents a robust performance as some revenue streams were impacted by a significant client going into administration at the end of 2011. Renewal rates for our existing scheme and affinity clients were strong and £0.75m of new business in the first half of the year has demonstrated that the pipeline remains healthy. An increase in the aggregate claims ratio to 69.7% (2011: 65.2%) at Ibex, our reinsurance subsidiary for ALP and ATP insurance business coupled with continued low investment yields, meant that the overall profit contribution from Ibex for the first six months of 2012 reduced to £2.0m. Despite the increase in the aggregate claims ratio, we remain satisfied with the overall stability of the underwriting results and the anticipated range of ultimate loss ratios across the various underwriting years.

Current trading - other trading divisions

Trading within our other divisions was mixed in the first half of the year. The After the Event ("ATE") division more than doubled its profit contribution to £0.2m with sales of the Accident Line product, which were up 12%, particularly buoyant. Although results stabilised in the marketing arm of our Accountax division, the overall profit contribution reduced in the first half of the year, with our consulting division concentrating on converting a number of key clients to annual retainer contracts with a short term impact on accounted revenue. Abbey HR ("AHR"), the business to business human resources consultancy, continued its improvement with a positive profit contribution for the first time of £0.1m. At the beginning of the year, we entered into a new venture, Abbey Property Facilities Ltd ("APF") which is 60% owned by the Group. This business markets and administers services to assist owners of vacant commercial property to mitigate their commercial rates liabilities. The result for the first six months, reflecting start up costs, attributable to the Group was a loss of £0.1m.

Cash flow and investment income

Cash flow for the period has returned to normal levels with net cash flow from operating activities at £2.6m (2011: £0.9m). First half cash flows are impacted by the timing of certain annual expense payments (including annual staff bonuses) and other timing issues. Accordingly, cash flows for the second half of the year are expected to be stronger. We remain committed to paying trade suppliers within contractual terms whilst providing flexible terms for our customers where possible and appropriate. We now expect investment returns to remain low for an extended period but we continue to follow our low risk investment strategy of holding cash, short term deposits and certificates of deposit.

Dividend

The board is delighted to approve an increase of 11% in the interim dividend to 2.1p per share (2011: 1.9p per share), payable on 9 October 2012 to all shareholders on the register at 14 September 2012.

Outlook

We remain cautiously optimistic for the remainder of 2012, with our core trading divisions having demonstrated the resilience of their business models and the ability to contribute sufficient growth to counter balance the headwinds that we know the business will face during the remainder of the year. We are still awaiting final authorisation by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) of our Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licence, which will enable us to deliver a wider range of legal services, although we remain hopeful that the technical issues delaying the process will be resolved shortly. We therefore look to the future with some optimism, with some exciting opportunities to expand our range of legal and tax services.
Posted at 23/5/2011 16:11 by masurenguy
Legal opening beckons for Abbey Protection
Robert Tyerman
19/05/2011

October brings the long-awaited deregulation of the UK's £23bn legal services market, and it will not come a moment too soon for Abbey Protection, the AIM-quoted company that provides legal and professional fees insurance, as well as legal and tax advice, to small and medium-sized companies. Described as the law's equivalent of the 'Big Bang', which transformed the City 25 years ago, and dubbed 'Tesco law' by supporters and critics alike, the impending changes have already encouraged large consumer-oriented groups such as the Co-op to prepare to plan their own legal services and Abbey is determined to grab its own share of the action. Chris Ward, managing director and 15.7% shareholder of London-based Abbey, which recently revealed a 9% pre-tax profit increase to £9.6m on turnover up 6% to £35m, says the company has also taken an option to buy a small, two-partner law firm to complement the efforts of the 60-plus lawyers it already employs.

Abbey, which plans to develop its thriving legal and tax consultancy activities further, will not seek to take on the big law firms in areas such as corporate finance, but aims to build on its existing strengths, expanding its services from advice and employment concerns to the full range of county court issues, including litigation between customers and suppliers. According to Ward, 'the big areas' for Abbey will be work now handled by high street law firms and possibly work outsourced by some of the big City law firms. 'We shall do dirty litigation for small and medium-sized companies,' he suggests, 'but we won't get involved in complex areas like intellectual property and patents.'

Strategy

Such an expansion would fit in well with Abbey's existing mix of services and plans for the future. The company, which derived £20.3m of its turnover last year from intermediary, advisory and other income and £14m from insurance premiums, provides its clients in the smaller company sector with cover for employment tribunal costs and offers individuals cover for the cost of tax investigations as well as business-to-business litigation. Abbey, keen to avoid the volatility of Lloyd's premium rates, underwrites the risks itself in partnership with the fully listed BRIT insurance group, and its in-house Ibex arm reinsures them through a carefully worded and annually renewed binding authority with BRIT, in the process making £4.6 million last year, up 10% and contributing almost half of Abbey's overall profits.

Ward looks at the company's overall results for last year with 'quiet satisfaction' and says he is pleased with progress in the first quarter of 2011. In an environment of austerity, belt tightening and even collapse among smaller companies, Ibex managed to avoid any significant impact from recession-led employment claims thanks to prudent risk management controls, with a 'most pleasing' fall in employment-led claim notifications during a year in which employment tribunal claims nationally showed an increase of no less than 56%. In competitive market conditions, the company had to reduce its premiums to some extent, but kept them at levels adequate to cope with a potential claims upturn. According to Ward, that stance cost Abbey some business, but he says some of that is now starting to come back from clients dissatisfied with the service provided by some of the company's more aggressively rate-cutting competitors.

Abbey's legal and tax divisions and Ibex together provided 96% of last year's profits and 88% of turnover. The tax side faced particularly strong competition, as practitioners vied for business while an unexpected reduction in tax inquiries by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs reduced customer demand, though Abbey still achieved a 96% renewal rate for its core fee protection product and won £700,000 of new business. Now, reports Ward, the taxman is 'back on track', with inquiries rising again just when last year's pain has weeded out the weaker competition and with it the downward pressure on rates. One business area that scored last year was specialist consultancy, including tax planning insurance and capital allowances cover, chiefly for accountants, which boosted revenues 145% to a still-modest £1.1 million.

Colin Davison, Abbey Protection's chief executive, says this division is looking to expand by introducing new products for its accountancy clients. In its legal fees insurance business Abbey has been facing increased demand, showing the counter-cyclical features of its business. Some of the clients for this service, such as the Federation of Small Businesses, did not generate growth, with static membership, which Ward suspects might now fall as companies fold and start-ups hang back. However, Abbey has made up for this by targeting smaller affinity groups, where there are regulatory issues and disciplinary inquiries. Ward singles out optometrists and swimming coaches as examples of groups for which the company can arrange 'bespoke cover'. Elsewhere, cyclicality did not work altogether to Abbey's advantage, with the company's legal advice centre suffering a tailing-off of calls to 'pre-recession levels', but it reacted by cutting staff numbers, winning nearly £1m of new sales and pushing pre-tax profits up 11% to £2.2m on revenues 6% ahead to £9.6m.

One field in which the company has been active is 'after-the-event' insurance, which clients take out once legal proceedings involving them are contemplated after something has happened to provoke this. Abbey successfully launched a new commercial after-the-event insurance, generating initial sales of £600,000, but this division's contribution to profits was static, because of the ending of run-off contracts to administer old policies taken on in 2003 but mostly expiring in 2009 and 2010. The whole after-event sector is in a state of uncertainty following the government's acceptance of Lord Justice Jackson's Review of Civil Litigation Costs. Among many recommendations, the review envisages preventing successful claimants in civil cases from recovering their after-the-event premiums from defendants. Some in the business argue that the Jackson review sounds the death knell for after-event insurance in Britain. However, Davison, while accepting that the government response to the consultation exercise launched after Jackson reported will mean 'significant rule changes', maintains that 'we remain ready to adapt our insurance product accordingly'.

The company, which ended last year with cash down from £29.6mn to £18.9m, has grown through acquisition and remains determinedly acquisitive. But, as Ward explains, apart from one modest deal last year, of late it has not clinched the takeovers it identified, either because on closer inspection they have turned out to be 'poorly run' or because the owners wanted too much for them. Abbey is still looking. Ward suggests the continuing ramifications of the recession may provide welcome fallout in the shape of 'fire sale opportunities'.

Management

Tony Shearer, an accountant and Elvis Presley fan who headed merchant bank Singer & Friedlander before its takeover by Iceland's ill-fated Kaupthing bank in 2005 and blamed regulators for the subsequent debacle, chairs Abbey Protection, with Colin Davison, another 15.7% shareholder, as chief executive. Davidson founded the original Abbey Tax Protection component of the company in the 1990s and became chief executive officer of the whole group in 2004 after a management buy-out of the original majority shareholding. Davison brings experience gained during a six-year stint with the old Inland Revenue to handling tax matters on the other side of the fence. He and Shearer masterminded the company's AIM float in 2007.

Chris Ward joined the Abbey Legal Protection side of the business in 1996 after 17 years in the insurance industry. He spent much of that time with the Prudential, where he became London market casualty account manager, heading the professional indemnity and contingency accounts. Now, Ward is responsible for all aspects of Abbey's legal business divisions with gross premiums of more than £24m. He has overseen the development of the company's legal services and after-the-event operations, as well as the establishment of Ibex.

Finance director Adrian Green joined Abbey in 2006 after gaining wide experience in general insurance underwriting and broking. Following seven years with Belgian insurer Fortis, in 1997 he joined Folgate Insurance, where he became finance director in 2002 and, after another insurer, Towergate, bought the company, he managed the run-off of Folgate's business before becoming regional finance director for Towergate.

Prospects

Shearer says Abbey expects to increase revenues and profits further this year, though he foresees challenges in most of its areas of operation, as clients face tougher trading conditions, with pressures on their employment levels and income. While maintaining its quest for suitable takeovers and hoping potential vendors have adjusted their expectations to today's reality, he looks forward in particular to legal deregulation later this year. 'We are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in this market,' he declares, pointing out that Abbey's plans are well advanced for the expected granting of the first licences in October. As Ward and Davison stress, the company will not try to be all things to all people in legal services nor to take on the big City solicitors at their own game of corporate finance, but, rather, to focus on those areas of law that will be most useful to its small and medium-sized company clients.

House broker Numis detects 'cautious optimism' at Abbey that last year's intense pricing competition is starting to ease, as weaker players head for the exits. The consensus of City forecasts sees modest pre-tax profit increases to £10m this year, with £10.3m on the cards for 2012, for earnings of 7.4p and 7.7p a share respectively. But how successful Abbey's planned move into legal services proves to be will have a major potential impact on profit prospects. And, if the company does find a suitable acquisition at the right price, that too could have a significant medium-term impact on the bottom line.

Valuation

Since its 2007 AIM float at 55p a share, Abbey has hardly been a stunning AIM performer. Over the past year, the shares, which are fairly tightly held, have traded in a narrow range between 76.5p and 85.5p and now change hands at 80.25p, for a hardly demanding prospective price-to-earnings ratio of 10.8. The pace could quicken if the company succeeds in both its legal and acquisition strategies. Moreover, in today's yield-conscious markets, Abbey's progressive dividend policy should win it friends.

The company has upped its full-year payout 8% to 4p a share, for a historic yield of 5%, more than three times current banks' base rate. Analysts suggest a possible increase to 4.28p this year, for a prospective yield of 5.3% a share and if Abbey really still cannot find an appropriate takeover at the right price or if it finds only a relatively modest one, Ward suggests 'we may return some of our cash to shareholders', including himself and Davison. On a medium- to long-term view, Abbey Protection offers good value.

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