Current trading and COVID-19 update

RNS Number : 6332H
Knights Group Holdings PLC
26 March 2020
 

26 March 2020

 

 

Knights Group Holdings plc

("Knights", the "Company" and the "Group")

 

Current trading and COVID-19 update

 

Knights Group Holdings plc (AIM: KGH), one of the UK's fastest growing legal and professional services businesses, today provides an update on its current trading, the precautionary measures it has put in place in relation to COVID-19, and the Group's liquidity.

 

Current trading and COVID-19 update

 

stopping or deferring all non-essential capital expenditure across the firm;

eliminating all discretionary spend, including marketing;

reducing Board members' salaries by 30% and reducing the salaries of all staff whose salaries are £30,000 or more by 10%, with effect from 1 April 2020; and

making staff cost savings to reflect a more prudent approach to resourcing.

The Board believe these actions to be prudent in light of the uncertain economic outlook. Given the rapidly changing situation, it is currently difficult to predict the potential impact on the activity levels of our clients. As a result, the Board does not believe it would be appropriate to provide forward looking financial guidance to investors and analysts at this time.  However, we remain confident in the Group's market positioning and long-term ambition to become the leading legal and professional services business outside London. 

 

Balance sheet and liquidity

 

The Group has a strong balance sheet with a conservative gearing level and good liquidity.

The Group had recently extended its revolving credit facility with HSBC UK and Allied Irish Bank (GB) to £40m until June 2023, giving the Group a total of c.£23m in undrawn committed facilities for working capital purposes, based on current market expectations for c.£17m of net debt as at the year ending 30 April 2020. This level of expected net debt will be less than 1 times proforma EBITDA.

We are in regular discussion with our banking partners, all of whom remain supportive of Knights as a business.

 

David Beech, CEO of Knights, commented:

 

" Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, our primary concern has been the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, who have responded with great commitment and resilience.

 

"Whilst we have traded in line with market expectations to date, we have decided to take a number of precautionary measures in response to the anticipated economic impact from the spread of the virus, to ensure maximum flexibility to respond to the changing market environment.

 

"We enter this period of uncertainty as a resilient, well-invested, diversified and cash generative business offering a unique proposition in the highly fragmented and often under-invested market for legal services outside London. The business is in a strong financial position and I am confident that the Group's strategy, supported by a talented team, will see Knights emerge from the near term uncertainties in a strong position."

 

 

 

For further information, contact:

 

 

Knights

David Beech, CEO

 

 

Via MHP Communications

Numis (Nomad and Broker)

Stuart Skinner, Kevin Cruickshank

 

 

020 7260 1000

MHP Communications (Media enquiries) 

Andrew Jaques, Katie Hunt, Rachel Mann

 

020 3128 8100

07585 301464

knights@mhpc.com

 

 

Notes to Editors

 

Knights is a fast-growing, legal and professional services business, ranked within the UK's top 100 largest law firms by revenue. Knights was one of the first law firms in the UK to move from the traditional partnership model to a corporate structure in 2012 and has since grown rapidly. Knights has specialists in all key areas of corporate and commercial law so that it can offer end-to-end support to businesses of all sizes and in all sectors. It is focussed on key UK markets outside London and currently operates from 15 offices located in Birmingham, Cheltenham, Chester, Crawley, Derby, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Maidstone, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Stoke, Wilmslow and York.

 

 

 


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