Personal record

28th Mar 2011 18:45

Employee benefits provider Personal Group Holdings reported record pre-tax profit for 2010. Revenues grew 2% to £27m. New annualised premiums of Personal's own products are running at £7.2m, with most still coming from the hospital plans. Pre-tax profit grew from £8.54m to £9.38m with the IFA business making a smaller profit contribution. Voluntary group income protection products are not growing as fast as hoped but the related costs have fallen. AIM-quoted Personal has £14.6m of net cash and, even excluding goodwill of £3m for the IFA business, £20.5m of net assets. Personal has already paid total dividends of 17p a share for 2010 and a first quarterly dividend of 4.35p a share for 2011. Assuming the other three dividends are the same amount the 2011 dividend will be 17.4p a share. Cash generated from operations more than covers the cost of the dividend. This year's rise in insurance premium tax rise from 5% to 6% will be absorbed by Personal and that will knock £175,000 from profit. There will also be increases in costs relating to the VAT rise and higher employers' National Insurance contributions.Panmure Gordon has edged down its profit forecast for 2011 because of the increased costs related to the tax changes. Pre-tax profit should still edge up to £9.8m in 2011.