APP Appreciate Group Plc

RNS Number:4451E
Park Group PLC
25 September 2007

For immediate release: 25 September 2007


                                  PARK GROUP PLC
                           ("Park" or "the Company")


                                  AGM STATEMENT


At the Company's Annual General Meeting held today Peter Johnson Park Chairman
made the following statement:


"In the year under review our Christmas savings and voucher businesses performed
strongly with both achieving significant levels of growth.


The cash savings business increased revenue by a pleasing 28% year on year. In
addition, our corporate voucher sales increased revenue by 44% year on year.


These combined businesses achieved a 33% growth in revenue to #305m and profit
before tax increased to #10.2m.


During the year we completed our exit from lending activities following the
closure of our home collected credit business in June 2006. We announced the
closure of Imagine Finance, our loan broking business, in July of this year.


The well publicised collapse of Farepak Food & Gifts in October last year has
had a dramatic impact on our Christmas savings business. Orders for Christmas
2007 are currently 29% below that achieved at the same date last year,
reflecting the loss of customer confidence in the industry following that event.
However, we have worked closely with the Department for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform to introduce a trust account to provide added security for our
customers' prepayments.


A new trade body, the Christmas Prepayments Association, has also been formed in
which we are fully involved. This Association has three independent directors
and three directors from the industry who will monitor the activities of members
and promote the merits of the CPA.


We believe that the action we have taken will help to restore customer
confidence in our savings proposition. Recently commissioned independent market
research suggested a majority of customers who left due to the impact of Farepak
would consider using our service to save for Christmas again. This is
encouraging for the future.


Earlier this year we acquired Home Farm Hampers from Findel plc for a cash
consideration of #300,000 on 7 March 2007. Following this acquisition, which
included the Farepak agent list, we have the largest database of potential
agents in the company's history.


Our corporate voucher sales are trading at similar levels to last year.
Encouragingly, revenue from the incentive market is currently 8% above last
year.


In addition, discussions are well advanced regarding the sale of our land at
Dock Road North, which has a book value of #700,000.


We continue to develop our web presence and 21% of our orders were placed
on-line last year. The internet is proving to be of substantial benefit to the
Group. We have enhanced our service to customers allowing them to manage their
accounts on-line. We have also launched an on-line magazine, myparkmag to enable
us to communicate with agents and customers more easily. A large proportion of
our corporate voucher leads are also driven from the web.


I believe our investment in the web and the large database of potential agents,
coupled with the incentive market well served by our brand leading High Street
Vouchers, point to an encouraging future.


Following this AGM we have convened an EGM to approve the move to the
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. AIM is the
UK's leading market for smaller growing companies and the directors believe
that, taking account of the market capitalisation of the company, trading on AIM
is more likely to bring the company to the attention of specialised mid-market
company investors with the potential to improve brokers' coverage of the
company. A listing on AIM will also reduce the ongoing costs of administration.
The company will, however, maintain the high standard of corporate governance
required for a fully listed company and will continue to abide by all material
aspects of the Combined Code."


                                    - ends -


For further information please contact:


Peter Johnson / Chris Houghton                      John West / Paul Young
Park Group plc                                      Tavistock Communications
Tel: 0151 653 1700                                  Tel: 020 7920 3150

Alex Borrelli
Shore Capital and Corporate Limited
Tel: 020 7408 4090




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END
AGMMGGZLZKLGNZM

Appreciate (LSE:APP)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Sep 2024 a Oct 2024

Appreciate (LSE:APP)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Oct 2023 a Oct 2024