Legal group NAHL reduces debt as firm eyes up division sale
NAHL, a London-listed business that focuses on the consumer legal services market, has reported a dip in revenue as the board eyes up a potential division sale.
The group reported that revenue for the first six months of the current financial year is expected to be £19.4m, over seven per cent short of the £21m it generated for Q1 2023.
The firm “traded in line with the board’s expectations”, with operating profit “expected to be broadly in line with last year”.
NAHL has been actively trying to reduce its net debt, which has seen it drop a further seven per cent over Q1 2024, down to £9m from £9.7m last year. Overall, the legal business has decreased its net debt by over 47 per cent from its £13.3m in 2022.
It reported that its Critical Care and Bush & Company Rehabilitation (Bush & Co) traded well during Q1 2024, adding that it delivered double-digit growth in revenue and profit.
The board stated that it is “continuing to explore a potential sale of the business and is pleased to report strong levels of interest from a wide variety of potential buyers”.
Bush & Co, is a provider of specialist services in the catastrophic injury market, which was acquired by NAHL in 2015.
The group stated that shareholders will be updated by the board on the progress as appropriate.
While in its Consumer Legal Services division, actions that management have taken to address the challenges in lead generation in National Accident Helpline (NAH), has resulted in “a material reduction in average enquiry acquisition cost towards normalised levels alongside a modest growth in volumes”.
The Consumer Legal Services division serves the personal injury and residential conveyancing sectors of the legal services market.
The board reported that it continues to believe that these headwinds are “short-term in nature”.
Additionally, the group stated that “trading through July has continued to plan and as a result, the board remains confident of delivering a full year out-turn in line with market expectations.”
NAHL expects to announce its results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 in late September 2024.
Shares were up 5.50 per cent in morning trading.