AGM Statement
May 17 2005 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:3709M
Conister Trust PLC
17 May 2005
Announcement
Conister Trust plc - Extracts from a speech to be delivered by the Chairman at
the Annual General Meeting to be held at 12 noon today, Tuesday, 17th May 2005.
We made good progress in a number of areas in 2004, with pre-tax earnings of
almost #3/4 of a million, being more than a 45% increase on the #1/2 million in
2003 and #1/4 of a million in 2002. The cost income ratio has again improved, as
indeed importantly has the quality of the lending book. The charge for specific
bad debts has again fallen and we have continued with our policy of
strengthening the general provision.
Unfortunately, some of the underlying trends are not so good. The economies both
in the UK and the Isle of Man appear subdued and consumer demand for goods and
services is surpressed. With the exception of litigation funding and lending to
personnel in the armed services, all our markets are mature and they face
intense and strong competition, challenging both the volumes of business we
undertake and the rates we can charge our customers. Competition increased
further in the second half of 2004 over the first half of that year, and this
trend has further continued into 2005. And, on top of this, we have decided not
to grow the litigation funding book until we have found acceptable insurers to
protect our lending. For these reasons, we announced only a modest increase in
the dividend. Notwithstanding the strong growth in 2004, we believe this level
of dividend is appropriate in the light of future uncertainties and our wish to
retain capital in the business to fund future growth.
Our strategy has been to build a sound platform from which to grow our
businesses; to keep a tight control on costs and to look for new opportunities
in order for us to expand the group and to deliver a superior return to our
shareholders. This remains the case, but we are cautious about the outlook in
the short term. We must maintian a tight control on costs - but not to the
detriment of revenue - and we must find more new income streams. After much
deliberation we have reluctantly imposed a pay freeze for all staff at this time
and we have recently announced the closure of our Huddersfield office, where
returns had become unacceptable. Please be assured that these decisions were not
taken lightly, but we believe they are in the best interests of the company at
this time. On a positive note, we have opened a new office in Peterborough,
specialising in loans for personnel in the armed services and we are installing
a new IT system, which should help us to work more effectively and to serve our
customers better. We shall certainly need to do more of this if we are to
compete and grow. As growth returns, we will inevitably require more capital. As
well as utilising the authority you gave to us last year to issue new shares, we
are exploring the feasibility of issuing loan stock, initially to some of our
existing Isle of Man depositors, which will qualify for regulatory capital
purposes.
I and your Board remain determined to return the company to a strong growth
trajectory and we will do all within our power to achieve this in this our 70th
Anniversary year. Inevitably this places great pressure on our staff and I would
like to take this opportunity once again to thank them for their support and
loyalty through challenging times.
The key to our success over the past 70 years has been our ability to embrace
and adapt to change, and providing our customers and business partners with the
service they require and have come to value. Looking to the future, it is clear
that the pace of change that we are facing is only going to increase. To ensure
that Conister continues to prosper, we must recognise that we face a future in
which our business and our people must rise to many challenges. Only if we meet
those challenges will we survive and grow in ever more competitive markets both
in the Isle of Man and the UK.
Our customers today are more sophisticated and better informed and they demand
and deserve the best service possible. This will pose new challenges for us and
we will need to develop new skills and attract new expertise in order to satisfy
their needs.
A key focus for our future will be to diversify and strengthen both our product
range and our customer base. This will include developing niches in the UK but
we will not compromise our commitment to the Isle of Man. On the contrary, we
recognise the Island is our strongest and most secure and supportive market,
which has seen us achieve this landmark 70th anniversary.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
AGMUNOBRVSRVAAR
Conister Trust (LSE:CTU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jan 2025 to Feb 2025
Conister Trust (LSE:CTU)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Feb 2025