Charles Taylor posts solid results; reveals rights issue

Insurance services firm Charles Taylor posted a solid set of results for 2014, as its revenue and profits increased. It has also said it hopes to raise more than £30 million from a rights issue.

Its revenue increased by 8.1 percent to £122.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, compared with £113.6 million in 2013, while its profit before tax grew 11.3 percent to £11.1 million for 2014, compared with £10 million in 2013.

However, the group repeated its third quarter statement regarding its adjusting services business, explaining that the business had been affected by the “unusually low level of large insured losses across the global insurance market in 2014”.

“Our investment in new offices, teams, systems & processes, and senior staff puts us in a strong position to benefit when insurance claims return to more normal levels,” said the company.

Within its core professional service businesses, revenue increased by 8.8 percent to £121.8 million in 2014, compared with £111.9 million in 2013. Its operating segment profit was up 16.7 percent to £12.2 million, compared with £10.5 million in 2013.

The board also announced the launch of a rights issue to raise approximately £30.6 million in gross proceeds.

David Marock, chief executive officer, said: "Charles Taylor has delivered a strong performance.  The Group's results in 2014 reflect the positive progress we have made in delivering our growth strategy."

“In a year when the unusually low level of large insured claims across the insurance market led to a fall in the performance of our adjusting services business, we have significantly increased overall revenue and adjusted profit before tax.

“We have successfully extended our range of professional services and invested in new staff, offices and teams. We also completed two carefully targeted acquisitions during the year, and another two in the early part of 2015, with a further acquisition due to complete shortly.”