Half Year Trading Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Group to constitute inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulations.
22 July 2026
NAHL Group plc
("NAHL" or the "Group")
Half Year Trading Update
NAHL (AIM: NAH), a leading marketing and services business focused on the UK consumer legal market, is pleased to provide a trading update for the first half of its current financial year, the six months to 30 June 2026 (the "Period").
The Group continues to trade in line with management's expectations for the full year. Revenues for the Period are expected to be approximately £19.7m, 3% ahead of the previous year, while underlying operating profit is expected to have increased by c. 8% to £3.4m (H1 2025: £3.2m).
The Group continued to deliver strong levels of cash generation and free cash flow increased by 42% in the Period to £2.1m (H1 2024: £1.5m). As a result, net debt at 30 June 2026 had reduced by 68% to £1.0m (31 December 2025: £3.2m).
Consumer Legal Services
In the Group's Consumer Legal Services division, revenue for the Period is expected to be around 2% higher than the previous year at £11.3m (H1 2025: £11.0m) with profits before tax around 52% higher at £1.2m (H1 2025: £0.8m).
National Accident Helpline generated 7,256 enquiries in the Period, which was 11% more than in the previous year. The average enquiry acquisition cost in the Period was 8% higher than the prior year, but this reflected the incremental cost of testing several new marketing channels that management are trialling as part of the strategy to increase resilience in enquiry generation. 2,106 new enquiries were placed into the Group's integrated law firm, National Accident Law ("NAL") (H1 2025: 2,200).
NAL settled 5% more cases in the Period than H2 2025, and these cases generated £5.7m of cash from settlements which was slightly more than the prior six months (H2 2025: £5.4m).
Critical Care
In Critical Care, the Board expects to report revenue growth of c. 3% for the Period to £8.5m (H1 2025: £8.2m), with profits before tax marginally ahead of the previous year at £2.7m (H1 2025: £2.6m).
Demand for Bush & Co.'s expert witness services remained strong, and revenues for this service line increased by 11% in the Period. The team delivered 2% more reports to customers, and the number of new instructions in the Period increased by over 20%. In Bush & Co. Care Solutions, the number of standalone care packages delivered also continued to grow, increasing revenues by 20%.
In case management services, revenues were down 8% in the Period. The business delivered 10% fewer initial needs assessments ("INAs"), and new instruction numbers were down 17%, in a continuation of the challenges faced last year. Encouragingly, the Bush & Co. Kids proposition performed well, increasing revenues by 6% in the Period and the number of INAs by 133%.
In response to these challenges, management are adapting the business model and plan to deliver a higher proportion of services to customers through their employed case management team, whilst retaining a smaller network of specialist associate case managers for more complex cases. This should enable more control over fulfilment of demand and drive higher margins in the medium-term.
Outlook
In the second half of the financial year ("H2 2026"), the Board expects National Accident Helpline to deliver a similar enquiry generation performance to that achieved during the first six months of the year. However, in NAL and as previously reported, it is anticipated that the number of settlements, and therefore revenues and cash from settlements, will be notably lower in H2 2026 due to the lower number of enquiries placed into NAL over the last two years as working capital has been managed.
In Critical Care, the Board expects the trends experienced in the Period to continue for the remainder of the year, such that revenues in H2 2026 will be marginally ahead of those delivered in the Period.
Due to the reduction of settlements in NAL and the unwinding of certain payment timings that benefited the Period, the Board expects net debt to increase moderately in H2 2026, albeit it will remain materially lower than the position at the end of 2025 (31 December 2025: £3.2m).
As previously reported, the Board are actively exploring suitable options to accelerate value for shareholders and appropriate capital allocation. Whilst the Board recognises the ongoing uncertainty caused by this process, it is striving to reach a positive conclusion and to be able to provide an update on progress as soon as possible, whilst working within the necessary regulatory and commercial parameters.
NAHL expects to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 in late September 2026.
All figures stated in this announcement are unaudited.
For further information:
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NAHL Group PLC James Saralis (CEO) Chris Higham (CFO)
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via FTI Consulting Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 |
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Allenby Capital (AIM Nominated Adviser & Broker) Jeremy Porter/Vivek Bhardwaj (Corporate Finance) Amrit Nahal/Kelly Gardiner (Sales & Corporate Broking)
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
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FTI Consulting (Financial PR) Amy Goldup
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 NAHL@fticonsulting.com |
Notes to Editors
NAHL Group plc (AIM: NAH) is a leader in the Consumer Legal Services market. The Group provides services and products to individuals and businesses through its two divisions:
· Consumer Legal Services provides outsourced marketing services to law firms through National Accident Helpline and claims processing services to individuals through National Accident Law, Law Together and Your Law. In addition, it also provides property searches through Searches UK.
· Critical Care provides a range of specialist services in the catastrophic and serious injury market to both claimants and defendants through Bush & Co.
More information is available at www.nahlgroupplc.co.uk, www.national-accidenthelpline.co.uk,
www.national-accident-law.co.uk and www.bushco.co.uk.
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