Given the range and scale of the activities of Hansard Global (HSD), you would imagine that it would be straightforward to anticipate business activity based on wider industry trends. You certainly wouldn’t think that, given normal trading conditions, a life insurance and long-term savings provider would stray too far from industry beta. But the group, which is domiciled in the Isle of Man, has endured a testing trading period, or at least that’s what the statutory figures suggest.
Gordon Marr, Hansard’s chief executive, is a little more sanguine, taking the view that “the group's profit performance in 2018 reflects a year of consolidation of the sales growth achieved in the past two years”. Unfortunately, that consolidation process incorporated a steep decline in overall income levels and a halved full-year dividend.
Admittedly, fee and commission income and total new business sales were broadly flat on the previous year, with activity for the latter constricted in the Far East region due to an increased focus on locally licensed businesses. The real hit to statutory numbers came from a marked contraction in investment income, which came in at £21.5m, against £136m, reflecting a swing to an unrealised investment loss of £25m, compared with a gain of £103m in FY2017.
| HANSARD GLOBAL (HSD) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 57p | MARKET VALUE: | £78m | |
| TOUCH: | 57-61p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 94p | LOW: 56p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 7.8% | PE RATIO: | 12 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 21p | EMBEDDED VALUE: | 131p | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 67.0 | 8.3 | 6.0 | 8.40 |
| 2015 | 106 | 14.9 | 10.9 | 8.75 |
| 2016 | 115 | 8.4 | 6.0 | 8.90 |
| 2017 | 189 | 7.7 | 5.6 | 8.90 |
| 2018 | 74.7 | 6.9 | 4.9 | 4.45 |
| % change | -60 | -10 | -13 | -50 |
| Ex-div: | 04 Oct | |||
| Payment: | 15 Nov |
