AFH Financial Group Plc AGM Statement (1984F)

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RNS Number : 1984F

AFH Financial Group Plc

06 March 2020

6 March 2020

AFH Financial Group PLC

("AFH" or the "Group" or the "Company")

AGM Statement

AFH Financial Group PLC (AIM: AFHP), a leading financial planning-led wealth management firm, announces that at the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM"), to be held at 11:00am today at AFH House, Buntsford Drive, Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove, B60 4JE, John Wheatley, Chairman of AFH, will update shareholders with the following statement:

"Marking the sixth consecutive year of profitable growth for the Company, 2019 was another successful year for AFH as we continued to work towards becoming the leading financial planning-led wealth manager in the UK. The Group generated revenues of GBP74.3 million, up 46% from 2018, an increase in earnings per share of 59%, an underlying EBITDA margin of 23.2% and a 33% increase in dividend per share to 8.0p, from the previous financial year.

"Underpinning the Group's exceptional growth has been our strategy to increase shareholder value through the expansion of the AFH community. Throughout 2019, AFH delivered on this strategy both organically, by increasing the productivity of our advisers, as well as by executing value accretive acquisitions financed on an earn out model. We continued to implement operational efficiencies and improve the customer experience for our clients by investing in technology and infrastructure and reducing investment costs by leveraging the increased scale of AFH. At the year end, our client Funds Under Management had exceeded GBP6 billion.

"Following a period of consolidation and whilst continuing to focus on cash generation and the organic growth of the business, the Group remains open to executing further acquisitions should suitable opportunities present themselves, with a focus on smaller IFAs and larger businesses where the majority of advisers are employed or equity participants in the target company.

"The success of 2019 has continued into the first four months of this financial year with revenues and fund inflows recorded at Q4 2019 levels. We expect the growing requirement for professional financial planning to accelerate in the future and for the consolidation within the sector to continue as commercial factors and regulatory requirements encourage a smaller number of larger businesses to dominate the sector.

"The core business continues to be cash generative and the adjustment to the trading mix of the protection division has negated the need for further working capital in this division and contributed to the cash generation of the Company since November 2019. The Company maintains a strong balance sheet and remains committed to investing in the necessary infrastructure, technology and management to support our steady progress towards the three to five-year aspirational milestones set in January 2019.

"We look forward to updating the market on our progress in due course and would like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders, employees and advisors for their sustained support as we continue to grow AFH and drive increased profitability and shareholder value."

 
 Enquiries: 
 AFH Financial Group PLC 
  Alan Hudson, Chief Executive Officer 
  Paul Wright, Chief Financial Officer             [phone] 
  www.afhfinancialgroup.com                         775 
 Liberum (Nominated Adviser and Broker) 
  John Fishley / Richard Bootle / Euan Brown       [phone] 
 Shore Capital (Joint Broker) 
  Hugh Morgan / Edward Mansfield / Daniel Bush     [phone] 
 Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR)                   [phone] 
  Joe Burgess / Georgia Colkin / Annabel Atkins     9512 
 

This announcement is released by AFH Financial Group plc and contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For the purposes of MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055, this announcement is being made on behalf of the Company by Paul Wright, Chief Financial Officer.

Notes to Editors

AFH Financial Group (AIM: AFHP) is a leading UK financial planning-led wealth management firm based in the Midlands. Founded in 1990 by CEO Alan Hudson, the Company provides wealth management and financial advisory services to over 20,000 clients in the UK. These services are delivered by over 450 professional advisers and 400 support staff.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

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March 06, 2020 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)