Begbies Traynor Group plc, the Manchester-based business recovery and financial advisory firm, has issued a trading update for its third quarter ended January 31, 2024, and announced the agreement of a new debt facility with HSBC.
“Financial performance has been consistent with our expectations, with both divisions trading in line with the outlook stated at the time of our half year results in December 2023,” said the Manchester firm.
“As a result, our outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged and the board therefore remains confident of delivering market expectations for the full year, extending our strong financial track record of growth.”
Begbies Traynor said the current range of analyst forecasts for its revenue is £131.1 million to £135.2 million and adjusted profit before tax of £21.9 million to £22.5 million.
“The group is pleased to have agreed its new debt facility with HSBC,” added Begbies Traynor.
“This replaces the group’s existing facility with HSBC, which was entered into in 2016 and was due to mature in August 2025.”
The key terms of the debt facility are a £25 million committed, unsecured revolving credit facility (unchanged), an additional £10 million accordion facility (increased from £5 million), allowing further debt capacity to support the group’s growth strategy, subject to certain conditions.
The firm said the overall facility costs are broadly in line with the previous facility.
There is an initial three-year term until February 2027, with two one-year extension options, giving a potential maturity date of February 2029.
Begbies Traynor Group executive chairman Ric Traynor said: “We have continued to perform well across the group and our outlook for the full year remains unchanged, which will extend our strong financial track record of growth.
“We are pleased to have agreed a new debt facility with HSBC which, alongside the group’s cash generation, provides us with the flexibility to complement our organic growth with selective acquisitions.
“This will enable us to both build on our decade long track record of growth and execute our strategy to extend our scale and range of services.”