Media

Announcement of Results for the Full Year Ended 30 April 2024

10 July 2024

Strong underlying results with positive pipeline, improving vehicle supply and growing footprint

ZIGUP plc (LSE:ZIG), the leading integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle, is pleased to announce its results for the full year ended 30 April 2024.

Martin Ward, CEO of ZIGUP, commented:

“The business has continued to deliver on the strategy we set out back in 2020 and I am delighted to be reporting another year of record performance, with strong underlying growth. We have stepped up investment in our people and locations over the past year, which will increase our capacity and we have seen continued strong demand for our integrated mobility solutions from existing and new partners, which provides future quality revenues.

We refreshed our core purpose to ‘Keeping our customers moving, smarter’ and our broadening capabilities has generated more opportunities to cross sell our platform services. Vehicle supply is normalising, as expected, and we are well placed to fulfil demand into selected growth sectors. We expect to invest further in renewing our fleet over the next 24 months which supports our balance sheet value and produces strong levels of future cash generation.”

Key financial highlights

Total revenue growth up 23.0%; underlying revenue up 13.7% supported by both annualisation of FY2023
contracts and increased activity within recent Claims & Services contracts (revenues up 20%)

• Vehicle hire revenue rose 6.4%; Spain up 8.4% supported by VOH growth of 4.1%, UK&I up 4.6% with growth in specialist vehicles and ancillary products; plus careful pricing actions to mitigate cost inflation
• Disposal profits of £61.9m (2023: £51.5m); higher total sales volumes of 36,800 (2023: 18,200): LCV residual values moderating in line with our expectations, 7,000 cars and other non-fleet vehicles disposed at minimal PPUs
• Spain rental margin at 18.2% (2023: 18.5%), UK&I rental margin up 0.4ppts to 15.5% (2023: 15.1%); Claims & Services EBIT margin of 6.0% (2023: 6.4%) reflects business mix on strong revenue growth
• Reported PBT of £162.1m (2023: £178.7m); underlying PBT up 8.9% through growth in Claims & Services profit and in rental profit (+7.2%); contributions from higher disposal profits and lower corporate costs partially offset by £9.7m additional net finance costs
• EBITDA grew 8.3% to £446.3m (2023: £412.2m) due to strong operational performance; net capex steady at £281.9m, principally replacement capex where UK&I fleet age reduced by 1.7 months and Spain fleet 2.6 months with vehicle supply improving
• Strong balance sheet with stable 1.5x leverage (2023: 1.5x), supported by fleet assets of £1.30bn (2023: £1.16bn) and over £240m of facility headroom
• Shareholder returns: 7.5% increase in full year dividend to 25.8p; third £30m share buyback programme concluded in June 2024, which will achieve a 4% increase in EPS when fully reflected

Business highlights

• Group fleet stable at over 128,000 vehicles (H1 2024: 129,300), with Spain up 3,700 where supply availability offset UK&I supply challenges. Improving access to supply in calendar year 2024, expected beneficiary of recent Zero Emission Vehicles mandate
• Broadening of rental and ancillary services offerings: including specialist vehicle support, growth in B2C sales channels, enhanced e-auction solutions. Good pipeline of corporate fleet opportunities
• Claims & Services business enjoyed continued growth and strong pipeline: Lex Autolease multi-service contract live in September; further multi-year contract extensions agreed. Investment in productivity and improving customer support including greater automation
• Investment in increasing capacity and efficiency through investment in nine new facilities opened or nearing completion across UK&I and Spain. Initiatives focused on bringing businesses closer together to provide a more seamless and digital customer experience progressing well
• Supporting net zero transition: introduction of micro-mobility rental solution and solar/battery installation services; growing use of green parts in bodyshop repairs. Increasing customer demand for advisory support and fleet emissions data. e-LCVs on hire up 133%.

Post year-end event

• Corporate rebranding launched in May 2024, including renaming to ZIGUP plc with stock market ticker LSE:ZIG; new strategic framework reflecting growth aspirations and forward-looking purpose, focused on keeping customers mobile, smarter

Outlook

We have a healthy prospect pipeline across our businesses and demand for our services remains robust. LCV residual values have performed well as we had anticipated over the last few years and we expect they will moderate over the short term but remain elevated. We are confident that our proposition will continue to offer sustainable returns and that we will benefit from our differentiated position in the market, enabling the business to drive positive growth in underlying revenues, profitability and cashflow.

Analyst Briefing and Investor Meet presentation

A hybrid presentation for sell-side analysts and institutional investors will be held at 9.30am today, 10 July 2024. If you are interested in attending, please email Buchanan on zigup@buchanan.uk.com to request the joining details. This presentation will also be made available via a link on the Company’s website zigup.birstaging.com.

The Company will also provide a roadshow presentation via the Investor Meet Company platform on Monday 15th July 2024 at 2.30pm for institutional and retail investors. Click here to register: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/zigup-plc/register

Spanish ‘spotlight’ session: Northgate Spain

A site visit providing greater insight into our Spanish operations is planned for Thursday 26 September. Spaces are limited but expressions of interest should be directed to investor@zigup.com. Relevant presentations will subsequently be made available via a link on the Company’s website zigup.birstaging.com.

This announcement is made on behalf of ZIGUP plc by Philip Vincent, Chief Financial Officer of ZIGUP plc.