Just Retire. Share Discussion Threads

[masurenguy] 03/10/2008 11:34

Well he was only there for 16 weeks so he didn't really have time to even get his feet properly under the table. He was granted 200,000 share options (which will now lapse) but he did not buy any shares himself. We can only speculate on the circumstances relating to his sudden departure !

[kickoff3pm] 03/10/2008 10:19

"Former Sesame chief executive Patrick Gale has blown into Just Retirement with the task of substantially growing the company and improving its distribution."

And blown back out again so we can only suspect the changes he wanted to make where not met with open arms perhaps.

KO.

[warranty] 03/10/2008 09:21

Thanks chaps, I'm still no wiser as to why he's left though after such a short space of time. Either they didn't like him or he didn't like them presumably!!

[masurenguy] 03/10/2008 00:34

"9th June 2008: LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Just Retirement (Holdings) Plc. said it has appointed Patrick Gale as chief operating officer and a main board director with immediate effect. Patrick was the chief executive of Sesame Group until December 2007 when he assisted Misys, the owners of Sesame, in the sale and subsequent transition of the company to Friends Provident plc. In January 2008, Patrick was appointed a non-executive director of HBOS Financial Services".

[welsheagle] 02/10/2008 20:54

Apparently he was only there for four months.

[warranty] 02/10/2008 11:35

Anyoneknow why the CEO has gone and what that says for the company as there's no reasoning in the statement?

[masurenguy] 19/9/2008 08:23

Glad that I topped up here at 84p yesterday - good timing for once !

[kickoff3pm] 18/9/2008 12:48

Well simple logic will say all the companies in all the markets can't have suddenly gone chite all at the same time. So the are some amazing bargains around at the moment but you have balance that by the fact that whatever is driving them down may continue. Those with spare cash would be much better off buying a range of stocks rather then just targeting one. Recover will be spacmatic at best but this one should recover given an even playing field.

KO.

[johnsoho] 18/9/2008 12:30

Just purchase a few more...very glad (currently!!!) to have got in at about 84p...an amazing price for a profitable company, think its just shorters and their software via AT trades trying to distort and/or destroy the markets at the moment.

Time will tell :-)

[masurenguy] 12/9/2008 14:28

A big 10% drop today on just modest 100,000 share volume !

[masurenguy] 10/9/2008 07:33

PRELIMINARY RESULTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2008

Just Retirement, the specialist UK life assurance group focusing on the provision of financial services to those at or in retirement, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 30 June 2008.

HIGHLIGHTS
* Third consecutive year of sales and Value of New Business (VNB) growth
* Group now UK's second largest provider of equity release and sixth largest annuity provider
* Recommended Final dividend of 0.7p per share, making 1.0p for the year up 66.7%
* Assets under management of £1.4 billion, up 56%

FINANCIAL SUMMARY Year ended Year ended % change
30 June 30 June
2008 2007
£m £m
Sale of Annuity Policies 604.5 551.6 9.6%
Equity Release Mortgage Advances 159.0 125.2 27.0%
Total Sales 763.5 676.8 12.8%

Value of New Business after tax 42.0 41.2 1.9%
EEV Underlying Operating Profit before tax 66.4 65.6 1.2%
EEV New Business Margin 7.0% 7.5% NA
Group Embedded Value 148.5 143.2 3.7%

IFRS Underlying Operating Profit before tax 25.1 25.7 (2.3%)
IFRS Total Equity 107.6 101.1 6.4%

Dividend per share (pence) 1.0p 0.6p 66.7%

Mike Fuller, Chief Executive of Just Retirement, commented: "Just Retirement has demonstrated considerable resilience in a challenging market. We have
reported solid sales growth in both our core products and we have grown both the Value of New Business and our EEV underlying operating profit, despite the exceptional economic conditions prevailing throughout our financial year. The Group is now firmly established as the second largest provider of equity release and the sixth largest provider of annuities in the UK. By any measure, this is a commendable performance.

The results for 2007/8 have demonstrated again the natural hedge provided by the Group's business model whereby yield curve pressure on reported EEV annuity margins has been largely counterbalanced by strong returns in equity
release. Despite current volatile market conditions, the Group expects to deliver a value of new business in the current year similar to that just reported, whilst EEV underlying operating profit will benefit from the corporate bond spreads on our ever-increasing assets under management. The favourable regulatory environment and strong demographic support give us considerable confidence in the long term prospects for the market as a whole and Just Retirement in particular."

[welsheagle] 04/9/2008 19:10

Panmure Gordon have reiterated their 'buy' recommendation today, with a target price of 166p.

[rocheberie] 25/8/2008 16:53

Thanks Welsheagle for those figures, I'll be looking to pick up a few more before the year end figures are announced on Wednesday 10th September.

[welsheagle] 25/8/2008 13:26

From August's 'Company Refs', when price was 115p:-
a/ Prospective PE ratio of 5.68 (based on two broker forecasts, both recommending 'buy').
b/ Forecast growth in eps of 97.7%.
c/ Prospective PEG ratio of 0.06.
d/ Net cash per share of 0.48p.

[masurenguy] 18/8/2008 16:42

More grist for the JR mill !
............................

Daily Telegraph
18/08/2008

More unlock money in homes to save for retirement
By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

The number of older home owners who are looking to release equity from their houses has soared as they search for ways to boost their retirement funds, new figures show. Equity release is becoming more prevalent among cash-strapped home owners in the UK. Specialist firm Hodge Equity Release report a 75% increase in inquiries during the past three months. It comes as households across Britain struggle to meet the rising cost of food and energy out of their income and turn to other means, such as credit cards and equity release, to pay their bills.

Equity release allows older home owners to unlock the value of their property while allowing them to continue living there. Dean Mirfin, of Key Retirement Solutions, an independent equity release specialist, said: "Perhaps more than anyone, older people are struggling to meet the rising cost of living." He said older home owners have been building up increasing amounts on their credit cards and are using equity release to pay them off. Research by Key Retirement Solutions shows that more than 1 in 3 of the population aged over 55 have outstanding unsecured debts and could be heading towards retirement with an average of £11,000. Mr Mirfin said: "The cost of living for the elderly has surpassed inflation over the past decade and so consumers need to be are aware of the dangers of approaching retirement with such large amounts of debt."

The total amount of equity released by those in retirement reached £390m in the three months to June - an increase of 13% on the same period a year ago, according to Key Retirement Solutions. The total amount of equity released in 2008 has increased to more than £680m it said. Mr Mirfin added: "While lending in the mainstream mortgage market continues to decline month on month, and in comparison to last year, demand for equity release is strong and lenders are able to lend to those who want to release money from their homes."

Paul Carter, Prudential's sales director for lifetime mortgages, said sales of its lifetime mortgage product had increased by 75% in the last year. "In many ways the lifetime mortgage market is more insulated against the credit crunch crisis than other products," he said. "This is because customers are offered no-negative equity guarantees and their interest rates are fixed for the life of the loan."

The City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority has issues a booklet, which warns that "equity release schemes can be helpful but they are not suitable for everyone."

[welsheagle] 01/8/2008 19:02

Panmure Gordon have reiterated their 'buy' recommendation, with a target price of 166p.

[masurenguy] 01/8/2008 11:01

Looks like the market has taken a positive view of this years sales growth inspite of the marginal slippage in Q4. Buys have outnumbered Sells by 4 to 1 in the first 3 hours of trading this morning although the volume still remains comparatively light.

[masurenguy] 01/8/2008 07:55

2007/8 NEW BUSINESS FIGURES

* Group total sales in twelve months to 30 June 2008 were £763.5m, up 12.8%
year-on-year on the corresponding period (£676.8m).
* Annuity sales increased 9.6% year on year.
* Equity release sales were 27% higher year on year and 29.4% up on the previous quarter.
* Market shares in both products increased compared to the previous year, with
annuities estimated at 5.5% and equity release at 14.0%.
* The FSA's announcement yesterday, calling for the fair treatment of annuity
customers, is expected to boost demand for enhanced annuities.

NEW BUSINESS RESULTS

£m (unaudited) 12 months ended 12 months ended % change
30 June 2008 30 June 2007

Annuity Policies 604.5 551.6 9.6%
Equity Release Mortgage Advances 159.0 125.2 27.0%
Group Total 763.5 676.8 12.8%

£m (unaudited) 3 months ended 3 months ended % change
30 June 2008 30 June 2007

Annuity Policies 143.8 149.8 (4.0%)
Equity Release Mortgage Advances 48.0 52.6 (8.7%)
Group Total 191.8 202.4 (5.2%)

Mike Fuller, Chief Executive of Just Retirement, commented:

"I am pleased to announce that the company has reported another full year of strong sales growth delivered against a backdrop of challenging market conditions. Critically, we have increased our annual shares of the annuity and equity release markets through our product, technology, service and funding advantages. The commitment from the FSA and ABI on ensuring a greater proportion of annuity demand is "shopped around", the move to a stricter MCEV basis for our competitors and the widely expected long term growth in our core markets, all suggest that the medium term outlook remains positive for the company. Accordingly, I remain confident of further progress in the coming year."

Business performance

The UK annuity market's growth in 2007/8 was below the expected trend rate as uncertainty continued to have a bearing on annuitants' decisions and timing of annuitisation. We believe that the 9.6% increase in our full year annuity sales outperformed the market despite periods of intense competition and the entrance of new players into the enhanced and impaired markets.

Full year equity release sales were strong, showing a 27.0% gain on the previous year. The fall in year-on-year sales in the final quarter is a reflection of the exceptionally strong comparable period. Against the 3 months to March 2008, we have grown our sales by 29.4%, achieving a 17.4% market share in the quarter and 14.0% for the year; levels equivalent to our best performance to date. Recent industry sales figures for the 3 months to June 2008 from SHIP show a 14% gain onQ1,demonstrating Just Retirement's substantial outperformance of the market.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sales actually slowed by 5% in Q4 BUT it is reasonable for the CEO to point out that this was in comparison to stellar growth in Q4 last year where overall sales growth for the quarter was 103%. Fullers comment "Against the 3 months to March 2008, we have grown our sales by 29.4%, achieving a 17.4% market share in the quarter and 14.0% for the year; levels equivalent to our best performance to date. Recent industry sales figures for the 3 months to June 2008 from SHIP show a 14% gain on Q1, demonstrating Just Retirement's substantial outperformance of the market." is valid in that Q4 sales growth over Q3 this year was 29.4% compared to a 22.8% growth in Q4 sales over Q3 sales last year.

Cumulative 9 month sales were 20.5% ahead of last year so the annual growth rate of 12.8% does indicate a sales slowdown over the past few months. Question is to what extent this slowdown is likely to continue into the next 12 month period and that is an uncertain factor at this stage which may negatively impact the share price.

We will need to wait until Sept 10th to see whether profits (£29.5m pretax last year) have increased inline with sales growth (up 12.8% this year) or whether they have been impacted by lower margins or higher operating costs.

When Q4 results were released last year the share price was 233p and the market cap was £684m. At last nights close the share price was already 54% lower at 107p as was the market cap at £315m. How much of the slowdown in growth has been factored into the share price remains to be seen. If there is any further dip in price, that might just occur due to the current volatile market climate, it could prove to be a good further buying opportunity since IMV this still looks like a very good long term prospect.

[welsheagle] 01/8/2008 07:47

Q4 New Business Figures (Just Retirement)




RNS Number : 3990A
Just Retirement (Holdings) plc
01 August 2008




JUST RETIREMENT (HOLDINGS) PLC
("JUST RETIREMENT" OR "THE COMPANY")

2007/8 NEW BUSINESS FIGURES

Just Retirement, the specialist UK life assurance group focusing on the provision of
financial services to those at or in retirement,
today announces its new business figures for the year ended 30 June 2008.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Group total sales in twelve months to 30 June 2008 were £763.5m, up 12.8%
year-on-year on the corresponding period (£676.8m).
* Annuity sales increased 9.6% year on year.
* Equity release sales were 27% higher year on year and 29.4% up on the previous
quarter.
* Market shares in both products increased compared to the previous year, with
annuities estimated at 5.5% and equity release at
14.0%.
* The FSA's announcement yesterday, calling for the fair treatment of annuity
customers, is expected to boost demand for enhanced
annuities.

NEW BUSINESS RESULTS

£m (unaudited) 12 months ended 12 months ended % change
30 June 2008 30 June 2007


Annuity Policies 604.5 551.6 9.6%
Equity Release Mortgage Advances 159.0 125.2 27.0%
Group Total 763.5 676.8 12.8%


£m (unaudited) 3 months ended 3 months ended % change
30 June 2008 30 June 2007


Annuity Policies 143.8 149.8 (4.0%)
Equity Release Mortgage Advances 48.0 52.6 (8.7%)
Group Total 191.8 202.4 (5.2%)


Mike Fuller, Chief Executive of Just Retirement, commented:

"I am pleased to announce that the company has reported another full year of strong sales
growth delivered against a backdrop of
challenging market conditions. Critically, we have increased our annual shares of the annuity
and equity release markets through our
product, technology, service and funding advantages. The commitment from the FSA and ABI on
ensuring a greater proportion of annuity demand
is "shopped around", the move to a stricter MCEV basis for our competitors and the widely
expected long term growth in our core markets, all
suggest that the medium term outlook remains positive for the company. Accordingly, I remain
confident of further progress in the coming
year."
Business performance

The UK annuity market's growth in 2007/8 was below the expected trend rate as uncertainty
continued to have a bearing on annuitants'
decisions and timing of annuitisation. We believe that the 9.6% increase in our full year
annuity sales outperformed the market despite
periods of intense competition and the entrance of new players into the enhanced and impaired
markets.

Full year equity release sales were strong, showing a 27.0% gain on the previous year. The
fall in year-on-year sales in the final
quarter is a reflection of the exceptionally strong comparable period. Against the three
months to March 2008, we have grown our sales by
29.4%, achieving a 17.4% market share in the quarter and 14.0% for the year; levels equivalent
to our best performance to date. Recent
industry sales figures for the three months to June 2008 from SHIP show a 14% gain on Q1,
demonstrating Just Retirement's substantial
outperformance of the market.

Open Market Option

The FSA yesterday published the results of its thematic review on Open Market Options
(OMO) under maturing personal pension and
stakeholder pension schemes. The FSA stated that, in calling for the fair treatment of annuity
customers, they "will be looking for firms to
demonstrate good practice in this area when we come to assess their overall TCF compliance."

There were two parts to the review, namely the quality of literature (wake-up letters)
issued to prospective pensioners coming up to
retirement and the delays by some pension firms in transferring funds to new annuity
providers. With 82% of firms surveyed either not
meeting OMO rules and principles or only satisfying the minimum requirements, and with
remedial action required by the FSA to be completed
by December 2008, the impending changes should be highly beneficial to Just Retirement.

Examples of issues cited by the FSA included:

"Very few firms mentioned the advantages of shopping around for customers with health
problems, who could be better off buying an
annuity from providers offering impaired life or enhanced rate annuities."

"Several firms did not make clear the value of seeking advice in making a decision."

Preliminary results

The company will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 30th June 2008 on
10th September 2008.

[kickoff3pm] 30/7/2008 09:07

I think the best indication of those results is the reverse this made earlier when the rest of the market and sector was diving.

KO.

[masurenguy] 30/7/2008 08:41

A little bit of nervousness ahead of Fridays quarterly results announcement !

[kickoff3pm] 24/7/2008 23:02

Stopped out and now waiting to get back in, this is healthy retractment imo but might dip a bit more yet based on the US markets tonight. I'll see how it goes but I feel about 105ish might be the best on offer. But whenever it turns that move could be twice the last push if not the full 150p target.

KO.

[kickoff3pm] 17/7/2008 10:45

Looking good so far, able to move my stop up to 103, nice sealed profit either way now. So I can forget this and move on to the next.

KO.

[welsheagle] 13/7/2008 11:18

Exactly, kickoff.