In a trading update ahead of its AGM later today, Anexo Group (ANX) hailed the progress made by its Credit Hire division, EDGE, as well as its Legal Services division, Bond Turner.
EDGE ended 2021 with record numbers of vehicles on the road, while cash collections in the first four months of FY22 for the Bond Turner division remained in line with management forecasts and are currently 24% ahead of those seen in the corresponding period in FY21.
EDGE monitors its fleet size constantly and has maintained its policy of controlling vehicle numbers to maximise cash collections. Average vehicle numbers for the first four months of FY22 stood at 2,079, an increase of 52% on the same period for FY21, it said.
The specialist integrated credit hire and legal services provider said trading continues to perform in line with management expectations, including for its housing disrepair division.
In the latter case, the number of cases acquired from inception until the end of April 2022 stands at around 3,300, some 950 of which have been settled to date. Looking ahead, the Board said it expects the number of settlements to accelerate as the year progresses.
Anexo remains in negotiations with Volkswagen AG concerning the class action brought against VW and its subsidiaries. Last month, the company acknowledged a statement released by VW in which the carmaker said it would pay £193m to over 90,000 drivers.
Volkswagen, which settled this High Court claim over the installation of emissions cheating devices in its vehicles, has already paid out more than £26 billion to drivers worldwide. The scandal, which originally erupted in 2015, has led to VW facing litigation in several countries.
While the above settlement relates to the first tranche of claims against VW, of which Anexo is not involved, the firm nonetheless acknowledged the payout as a step in the right direction.
Anexo’s separate class action covers a second, "although not subordinate", tranche of claims against VW on similar grounds. It said a further announcement will be made "in due course."
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Earlier this month, analysts at Arden Research reiterated Anexo as a Buy with a current target price of 280p. The stock’s performance to date, together with a favourable market backdrop, underpinned the broker’s FY22 forecasts, “with an upward bias to FY23.”
In a morning research note, analysts at Arden Research maintained its Buy rating. Analysts wrote: “While only a month after publication of FY21 results, it is reassuring that overall trading continues to be in line with management expectations, with for example cash collections +24% y/y, while the Housing Disrepair business is starting to gather pace.”
In Housing Disrepair, the number of new cases acquired since inception to the end of April-22 stands at around 3,300, implying around 1,300 new claims from Jan-April versus around 2,000 in FY21.
A total of 950 claims have now settled, implying around 450 for the 4 months to April 2022, and Anexo expects the number of settlements to accelerate further as the year progresses.
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