LONDON (ShareCast) - Staff benefit and insurance provider Personal Group hailed the success of a turnaround strategy for helping it increase first-half sales, profits and dividends.
The group said moves to bring in new staff and seek business through new channels in the last couple of years had paid off with growth at both the top and bottom lines in the six months to 30 June.

Personal provides insurance products such as hospital and convalescence plans, death benefit and income protection plans, lifestyle benefits such as holiday and retail discounts, health and wellbeing benefits and a range of tax-efficient benefits.

Revenue increased 24.8% to £17.4m and underlying pre-tax earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation lifted 10.6% to £4.4m.

Chief executive Mark Scanlon said the company had weathered the economic downturn reasonably well because it focuses on simple, low-cost benefits which staff may keep even in tough times.

"Our insurance products are so low-cost that in an economic downturn, they would be the last ones that people drop," he told Sharecast/Digital Look News in an interview.

Personal offers benefit programmes to more than two million staff across the UK through more than 550 corporate customers such as Network Rail and Stagecoach, private health providers such as Priory Group and Spire Healthcare, food manufacturers and parcel couriers.

Major contract wins in the period included Four Seasons Health Care, Translink and Oak Furniture Land.

It said its acquisition in March of Lets Connect IT, which provides offers on smart-phones, tablet computers and other consumer goods, was now integrated and trading above expectations.

Group pre-tax profit was £3.5m, reflecting £300,000 of costs incurred in buying Lets Connect. Dividends per share paid in the period rose 5.4% to 9.8p.

Scanlon said: "We're taking the business to the next level."

Shares were unchanged at 532.5p at 10:10 in London.

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