Abbey Protection Share Discussion Threads

[pillion] 22/5/2013 14:10

I bought in yesterday on the special divi news
Plus that is a chart to die for

[masurenguy] 22/5/2013 08:13

A new ATH of 119p was paid for 2500 shares just after the open this morning!

[masurenguy] 21/5/2013 21:10

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."

[pillion] 21/5/2013 14:05

Good post Masur !!

Highlighted

[masurenguy] 21/5/2013 07:06

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.

[masurenguy] 15/5/2013 17:27

A little bit of momentum over the past 3 weeks with the average daily share volume more than doubling during this period and the share price gradually creeping back up toward it's closing ATH of 115p.

[masurenguy] 26/3/2013 09:03

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."

[masurenguy] 05/3/2013 07:48

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.

[shawzie] 04/3/2013 16:05

From the Home page of lhs-solicitors :

" The key to a successful client relationship is us understanding what it is that you, the client, wants to achieve, and then tailoring our service accordingly to ensure this happens. "

Let us hope that their contribution to bottom-line profit is better than their
use of standard english.

[masurenguy] 28/2/2013 08:44

Abbey Protection has now quickly followed up and implemented their previously flagged intention to acquire an established legal practice, only 11 weeks after finally obtaining their ABS license.

RNS Number : 8469Y
Abbey Protection PLC
28 February 2013

Acquisition of Lewis Hymanson Small LLP

Abbey Protection plc ("Abbey Protection" or the "Group"), the specialist supplier of legal and professional fees insurance and services products, announces that it has acquired a controlling interest in and will become the new corporate partner of Lewis Hymanson Small LLP ("LHS"). LHS has been trading since March 2007 and has established a successful commercial practice with an excellent loyal and local following. Based in Manchester, LHS has six partners and eighteen fee earners and its specialist regulatory department is recognised as a market leader in its field.

The acquisition follows shortly after Abbey Protection Group Ltd ("APG") was granted a licence ("Licence") by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to operate as an alternative business structure under the Legal Services Act 2007. LHS, with its new corporate partner APG, has been granted a separate alternative business structure licence effective from 28 February 2013. All partners of the firm, including founding partners Ian Lewis and Graham Small, will remain with LHS.

Chris Ward, Group Managing Director of Abbey Protection, commented: "We have worked with LHS for a number of years and I am delighted to welcome the practice into the Abbey Protection Group. Throughout the time we have worked together, it has been with a mutual understanding and dedication that puts the client first. Developing a new breed of legal service which will put the client at its heart has been a long-term strategic priority for Abbey Protection and we believe that with our investment and support, LHS will be able to continue to deliver the specialist, independent legal support that its clients deserve - and help us develop new and exciting legal markets for the future."

Ian Lewis, Founding Partner of LHS, commented: "This transaction is an enormous step forward for LHS as it positions us well to take advantage of the opportunities that are constantly arising in this new legal world. We intend to grow the business and move forward together with a strategy that would be impossible for us without external investment and support. We are flattered that Abbey Protection chose us and see this as a reflection of the principles that LHS have adhered to both to clients and to its loyal and dedicated employees. We are particularly proud that Abbey Protection have decided to continue to use the name and goodwill of LHS."

Ends.

LHS website.

[masurenguy] 20/2/2013 11:55

Fiscal 2012 results to be announced in 5 weeks time, on Tuesday March 26th.

[masurenguy] 19/2/2013 16:35

A Sell of 2m shares @107.7p, at 4% under the Bid, around 45 minutes ago. Could this have been Numis making a final exit? Who picked the shares up? We may see an RNS later this week to identify the buyer.

[masurenguy] 17/2/2013 13:30

Abbey Protection was one of Gervais Williams top six selections for 2012 almost a year ago. See post #104 from last February when the ABB shareprice was 79p. The shareprice has risen by 42% since then.



ABB is currently the joint seventh largest holding in the Diverse Income Trust.



He expects small caps to outperform main market stocks in 2013.

Gervais Williams: Expect large-caps to struggle

Star fund manager Gervais Williams has argued that smaller companies will buck January's trend and outperform in the months ahead. The FTSE 100 rose by 7% in last month's equity surge, with both the junior AIM 100 and AIM All-Share indices lagging on 4% growth each. But Williams, whose mixed-cap Diverse Income Trust has been the best performer in its UK Growth & Income since its launch in 2011, warned of tougher times ahead for the giants. 'The outlook for sustained macro growth, absent stimulus, looks subdued,' he explained. 'We continue to believe that this environment will prove challenging for many large market-cap companies, which could struggle to deliver revenue growth and may experience margin pressure.'

Williams expressed greater confidence for the listed minnows. 'By comparison,' he continued, 'smaller companies can often continue to grow regardless of the macro environment through exploiting niche opportunities and management actions.' In his investment trust, Williams has devoted just 7% of his portfolio to FTSE 100 constituents, with 25% to the FTSE SmallCap Index and 35% to groups traded
on AIM.Of these smaller businesses, he has concentrated on those with strong balance sheets. 'Not only are these better placed to sustain dividend payments,' Williams commented, 'but also they would have considerable advantage over competitors that may be short of capital should economic conditions deteriorate further.'

Williams added that he prefers 'simple businesses that have the prospect of sustaining an increase in demand for their products even if the world economy was not expanding'.His fund's top holdings are presently software outfit Quindell Portfolio (LON:QPP), shares in which have climbed by 91% over the
past year, and CML Microsystems (LON:CML), up 69% over the same time.

[masurenguy] 01/2/2013 12:59

Heading north again today with someone paying a premium over the Offer for 45,000 shares @118p !

[nurdin] 31/1/2013 12:19

cheers mas...will have a closer look..

[masurenguy] 31/1/2013 12:13

Not too late Nurdin - Mawer saw great potential @103p a couple of weeks ago and invested over £10m.

This has been a slow burner - todays rise has just doubled their IPO price in just over 5 years with the biggest increase of 44% occurring over the last 8 months. Classic Zulu stock with a consistently rising
eps and dividend - circa 4.8p or 4.3% to those buying at todays ATH.

Still plenty of future growth in both sales and profits especially when they start to exploit their recently obtained ABS license which will provide them with considerable new synergetic opportunities with existing clients and offer them further opportunities with new clients.

Insiders still own just over 50% and half a dozen institions own a further 25%. In the longer term I see
the exit here being an acquisition by a larger financial services company. In the meantime there is a good dividend and further potential capital gain which was clearly enough to pursuade Mawer to bcome the largest external shareholder early this month.

[nurdin] 31/1/2013 11:19

Wish I had spotted these before...;o(

[masurenguy] 31/1/2013 11:10

A 30,000 Buy @109.5p at around 10.40am seems to have triggered todays price rise and prompted a few more modest Buys on the back of it. Seems to validate Mawers 10m share acquistion @103p a couple of weeks ago. ABB is currently at a new ATH of 111.25p !

[masurenguy] 21/1/2013 11:39

Numis have sold a further 2m shares @105.21p, which has reduced their shareholding to 2,364,020 or 2.36%, which is below the future notification threshold. It will be interesting to see who has acquired these shares - whether it is Mawer building a larger stake or another existing institutional holder. I would expect to see an RNS in due course identifying the buyer unless it is a brand new shareholder where an initial 2m stake would be below the notification threshold.

[masurenguy] 14/1/2013 10:08

There it is. ABB now have a brand new shareholder who has acquired the largest external institutional stake of 10.0% in the company. The bulk of their stake was obtained from the previous largest institutional shareholder, ABB broker Numis, who sold 8.5m shares to Mawer @103p last Thursday. Mawer also topped up their 8.5m stake from Numis with a further 1.49m shares from other sources. Numis held these shares in ABB prior to their 2007 IPO and will have more than doubled their original investment on this sale. Numis retain a 4.36% stake in ABB still making them the second largest institutional investor in the company.

Mawer are an award winning 5 star rated Canadian global small cap fund so their £10.3m investment @103p is a real vote of confidence on their view of ABB's future prospects. There is some further information on this major new shareholder below.

Mawer Global Small Cap Fund


Mawer Wins at 2012 Morningstar Canadian Investment Award

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov 29, 2012) - Mawer Investment Management''s David Ragan won the prestigious Morningstar Foreign Equity Fund Manager of the Year award at the 18th annual Canadian Investment Awards. In addition, Mawer was named as the winner of several other individual awards in the following categories:

Canadian Equity Fund
Canadian Small/Mid Cap Equity Fund
International Equity Fund
Global Small/Mid Cap Equity Fund

The 2012 Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards were held in Toronto on November 28th to recognize leadership in the Canadian investment industry. These awards are notable for a number of reasons. This is the fourth time Mawer has won a Manager of the Year award. Mawer has won Canadian Investment Awards in Canadian mid-large cap equities, Canadian small cap equities, International equities, US equities, Global small cap equities and Global balanced categories, demonstrating the Firm''s expertise in managing multiple asset classes using the same in-house disciplined investment approach.

This is the 12th award for the Mawer International Equity Fund (formerly the Mawer World Investment Fund) in its category in the past 11 years, winning in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 (two), 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (two), and 2012 (two). In addition to its family of mutual funds, Mawer also manages many identical or similar mandates for Institutional investors, such as pension funds and not-for-profit & foundation organizations, for Private Clients, and for sub-advised investment funds and separately managed account programs offered by broker-dealers across Canada.

[masurenguy] 10/1/2013 21:23

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

[masurenguy] 26/12/2012 16:39

New ATH close of 106p on Christmas Eve augurs well for 2013 !

[masurenguy] 19/12/2012 13:54

New ATH price of 105p paid for 32,500 shares this morning !

[masurenguy] 12/12/2012 09:50

Looks like Abbey might even close today above the previous ATH (all time high) of 103.75p on Oct 30th !
Edit: grahamburn - I'm quite confident that this will now transpire with the new ABS license. :o)

[grahamburn] 12/12/2012 09:49

Well done, Masurenguy. The niggling doubts which I expressed a few weeks back about the granting of this licence have now been erased from my brain. There's every chance now that this will lead to further exponential growth in the business - and the share price!