TIDMSJH
RNS Number : 3913A
St James House PLC
29 May 2019
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
29 May 2019
ST. JAMES HOUSE PLC
("SJH", the "Group" or the "Company")
Trading Update
The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") is pleased
to provide the following trading statement and update on recent
developments (the "Update").
Payments Division
The Payments Division continues to make progress after the
difficulties of 2018. Market Access is now actively adding new
clients to its payment card processing service. To enhance its
competitiveness in this sector, it has added further acquiring
institutions to its payment gateway. The acquisition of Another Ops
Limited ("Another"), as announced on 23 May 2019, will add to the
Group's offering within the payment card space, through the
addition of prepaid cards, mobile payments, point of sale terminals
and pay by link services, as well as bringing additional acquiring
relationships.
Market Access' foreign exchange and international payments
service is gaining increasing traction, with the number of
transactions in May expected to be around three times those
undertaken in April, based on the number completed to date. Market
Access has been granted a BIC (business identifier code) by SWIFT
(The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication),
the global payment network for financial institutions, which will
considerably enhance the Group's ability to make international
payments. Market Access has also signed agreements to provide Union
Pay, AliPay and WePay, (the major Chinese domestic payment systems)
services internationally, as well as commencing several further
international banking relationships.
Mark Harris, who heads Market Access added, "Another brings
important proprietary software, experienced staff and new services
which means we have the right blend of skills and technology to
provide for our key markets - wholesale FX & related corporate
services, retail FX, cards and novel alternative payments for
business and consumers, as well as increased capacity for a full
range of merchant services, such a point of sales machines, beyond
the e-commerce services we already offer. It is expected to have an
immediate beneficial effect for our existing and new clients".
Lottery Division
Prize Provision Services Ltd. ("PPS"), which operates as an
External Lottery Manager licensed by the UK Gambling Commission has
seen an increase of 8% in player proceeds (ticket sales) in the
first three months of the financial year, which has in turn led to
a 10% increase in funds raised for the societies it works with.
The "Unite2Win" lottery (https://www.unitelottery.org/) to raise
funds for the Unite the Union Benevolent Fund, has been
successfully launched. Unite is the UK's second largest trade
union, with over 1.27m members (as at 31/12/17).
In addition, the new scratch card offering, announced on 30
January 2019, is proving popular with clients and PPS hopes to see
a gradual rise in the provision of this service in the coming
months.
Group
During the second half of the year to 31 January 2019, revenue
was broadly in line with those experienced in the first half of the
year. During the same period, expenses increased on a one-off basis
due to the costs associated with the organisational restructuring
detailed in the announcements of 12 July 2018, 30 January 2019 and
15 February 2019. These operational losses were offset by the
exceptional profit on the sale of the Emex businesses completed on
31 July 2019 and disclosed previously in the results for the six
months to 31 July 2018.
The trend from the second half of 2018 has continued through the
first quarter of the new financial year (February 2019 - April
2019), as the Group has finalised the restructuring and completed
the transition of its payment card processing business. As
described in the announcement of 12 July 2018, the business has
successfully moved away from the transacting of payments involving
non-mainstream eCommerce merchants in certain jurisdictions, and it
has completely rebuilt its activities and systems in this sector.
The impact of new payment card processing business is expected to
have a material positive effect on the Group from the second
quarter of the current financial year. Payment card processing had
been the largest element of the Group's activities, so the
rebuilding of this business is the key focus for the remainder of
the current financial year.
As defined and outlined in the announcement on 12 July 2018, the
consideration for the purchase of Emex was GBP2,000,000, satisfied
through the issue by MDC Nominees Limited of a Loan Note to the
same value, with a 10-year term. A small payment (circa 1%) has
been made relating to the run-off of the old Emex business and
furthermore, the Board continue to be confident that the Company
will receive the full GBP2,000,000 repayment of the Loan Note
within the ten-year term of the Loan Note.
The Company expects to announce its results for the year to 31
January 2019 in early July 2019 and to convene its annual general
meeting towards the end of that month.
Graeme Paton, CEO, commented, "The existing payments business
has seen month on month growth in large and small payments since
the return from the suspension of trading in our shares on the AIM
Market. We are pleased to be able to roll out the services offered
by Another in the coming weeks.
It is also encouraging to see steady growth in the lottery
business. We expect this pattern to continue as the success of the
supporting campaigns by Unite and Lincoln City Football Club
offerings clearly show there is a continuing demand for our lottery
products, along with those of long-standing client organisations
such as the Liberal Democrats.
While the Group has had a difficult last 12 months, we are
seeing a clear improvement in the operating activities and I
believe we are seeing the benefits of all the hard work that has
gone into our turnaround".
For further information, contact:
St. James House PLC
Lord Razzall, Chairman
Website www.sjhplc.com 020 7493 9644
Allenby Capital Limited
(Nomad, Financial Adviser & Broker)
John Depasquale / Nick Harriss 020 3328 5656
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END
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