Abbey Protection Discussion Board http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion http://www.iii.co.uk/icons/logos/uk_logo.gif http://www.iii.co.uk tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.9144735 10/01/2012
GROWTH COMPANY
http://bit.ly/xnWpp5 By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=9144735&action=detail Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:21:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8854532
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2011/10/17/small-cap-set-to-profit-from-8bn-tax-crackdown.aspx


By CORBYNZ ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8854532&action=detail Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:46:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8707676 02/09/2011 Robert Tyerman
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/recommendations/1651318/abbey-protection.thtml


Legal and professional fees insurance and consultancy specialist Abbey Protection (ABB) is pondering future legal acquisitions after upping interim profits 6.5% to £5m pre-tax. The City of London-based company, which caters primarily for small to medium sized concerns, lifted revenues 5.7% to £18.3m in the six months to June and, having pushed up earnings 10% to 3.79p a share, is increasing the interim dividend 12% to 1.9p a share.

Abbey, steered by chief executive officer Colin Davison, says its core legal protection and services divisions hoisted first-half pre-tax profits some 25% to £1.2m, helped by affinity group business initiated in the second half of 2010. Net premiums at the company's Ibex reinsurance arm rose 9% to £7.4m, but a higher claims ratio kept its profit contribution static at £2.1m.

Accountax, Abbey's tax and accountancy consulting arm, saw an 18% fall to £900,000 in the first half year, compared with the previous first half, which had been boosted by successful no win/no fee cases. 'After the event' insurance revenues eased slightly to £600,000 and the company says this business will taper away altogether after impending legal changes preventing succesful claimants from recovering fees and premiums from defendants.

The big change Davison and his colleagues at Abbey are waiting for is de-regulation of legal services, allowing outsiders to take over law firms. Implementation of the changes has been deferred from October to January, but Abbey, which ended June with £17.1m cash and wants to increase the non-insurance part of its business from a third to a half in three years, is building up its in-house legal team and scouting for potential acquisitions among smaller specialist law firms.

Analysts see Abbey increasing pre-tax profits by a modest £500,000 to £10m for the full year, though a move in the legal field could accelerate progress. First recommended by Growth Company Investor at 61.5p in 2009, the company's tightly-held shares now trade at 81.25p, where they sport an encouraging prospective yield of 5.4%.

Hold on.

Tags: Acquisitions, AIM market, Colin Davison, Legal de-regulation

Sector: Nonlife Insurance

Companies: Abbey Protection

Market cap: £81.25mPE Forecast: 11
Share price: 81.25p By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8707676&action=detail Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:06:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8699245 http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8699245&action=detail Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:18:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8632809 http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8632809&action=detail Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:35:00 GMT offshore 01 tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8279893 19/05/2011 Robert Tyerman

October brings the long-awaited deregulation of the UK’s £23 billion legal services market, and it will not come a moment too soon for Abbey Protection, the AIM-quoted company that provides legal and professional fees insurance, as well as legal and tax advice, to small and medium-sized companies.

Described as the law’s equivalent of the ‘Big Bang’, which transformed the City 25 years ago, and dubbed ‘Tesco law’ by supporters and critics alike, the impending changes have already encouraged large consumer-oriented groups such as the Co-op to prepare to plan their own legal services, and Abbey is determined to grab its own share of the action.

Chris Ward, managing director and 15.7 per cent shareholder of London-based Abbey, which recently revealed a 9 per cent pre-tax profit increase to £9.6 million on turnover up 6 per cent to £35 million, says the company has also taken an option to buy a small, two-partner law firm to complement the efforts of the 60-plus lawyers it already employs.

Abbey, which plans to develop its thriving legal and tax consultancy activities further, will not seek to take on the big law firms in areas such as corporate finance, but aims to build on its existing strengths, expanding its services from advice and employment concerns to the full range of county court issues, including litigation between customers and suppliers.

According to Ward, ‘the big areas’ for Abbey will be work now handled by high street law firms and possibly work outsourced by some of the big City law firms. ‘We shall do dirty litigation for small and medium-sized companies,’ he suggests, ‘but we won’t get involved in complex areas like intellectual property and patents.’

Strategy
Such an expansion would fit in well with Abbey’s existing mix of services and plans for the future. The company, which derived £20.3 million of its turnover last year from intermediary, advisory and other income and £14 million from insurance premiums, provides its clients in the smaller company sector with cover for employment tribunal costs and offers individuals cover for the cost of tax investigations as well as business-to-business litigation.

Abbey, keen to avoid the volatility of Lloyd’s premium rates, underwrites the risks itself in partnership with the fully listed BRIT insurance group, and its in-house Ibex arm reinsures them through a carefully worded and annually renewed binding authority with BRIT, in the process making £4.6 million last year, up 10 per cent and contributing almost half of Abbey’s overall profits.

Ward looks at the company’s overall results for last year with ‘quiet satisfaction’ and says he is pleased with progress in the first quarter of 2011. In an environment of austerity, belt tightening and even collapse among smaller companies, Ibex managed to avoid any significant impact from recession-led employment claims thanks to prudent risk management controls, with a ‘most pleasing’ fall in employment-led claim notifications during a year in which employment tribunal claims nationally showed an increase of no less than 56 per cent.

In competitive market conditions, the company had to reduce its premiums to some extent, but kept them at levels adequate to cope with a potential claims upturn. According to Ward, that stance cost Abbey some business, but he says some of that is now starting to come back from clients dissatisfied with the service provided by some of the company’s more aggressively rate-cutting competitors.


Abbey’s legal and tax divisions and Ibex together provided 96 per cent of last year’s profits and 88 per cent of turnover. The tax side faced particularly strong competition, as practitioners vied for business while an unexpected reduction in tax inquiries by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs reduced customer demand, though Abbey still achieved a 96 per cent renewal rate for its core fee protection pro By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8279893&action=detail Thu, 19 May 2011 18:17:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8253319
Can't type it all out, but here is their conclusion in regard valuation:

"Since its 2007 AIM float at 55p a share , Abbey has hardly been a stunning AIM performer. Over the past year, the shares which are fairly tightly held, have traded in a narrow range between 76.5p and 85.5p...for a hardly demanding price to earnings ration of 10.8.

The Pace could quicken if the company succeeds in both its legal and acquisition strategies. Moreover in todays yield conscious markets, Abbey's progressive dividend policy should win it friends.

The company has upped its full year payout 8% to 4p a share, for a historic yield of 5%, more than 3x the current banks' base rate. Analysts suggest a possible increase to 4.28p this year for a prospective yield of 5.3% a share.

And if Abbey really still cannot find an appropriate takeover at the right price, or if it finds only a relatively modest one, Ward (- the Managing Director) suggests 'we may return some of our cash to shareholders' including himself and Davidson (- the Chief Executive).

On a medium to long term view Abbey Protection offers good value."

By Iggystock ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8253319&action=detail Sat, 14 May 2011 16:13:00 GMT Iggystock tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8046865 http://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/ By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8046865&action=detail Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:31:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.8038612 Monday, Mar 28 2011 by Edison Investment Research 0 comments


Mar 28th 2011 - Edison Investment Research today published a report on Abbey Protection (ABB.L, LSE:ABB, LON:ABB)

entitled "Another Year Of Growth".

In summary, the report says:

The strength of the core businesses is evident in further growth in revenues and profits in 2010, despite economic pressures on the core UK SME client base, continued low investment yields, increased competition, and some challenges in its smaller divisions.

The insurance offering is conservatively reserved and exhibits low volatility.

Non-insurance consulting revenues continue to grow, and opportunities lie ahead in legal services. A debt free balance sheet and strong cash generation strongly underpin the growing dividend.

http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/research/another-year-of-growth-55212/

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/ By SpikeyDT ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=8038612&action=detail Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:33:00 GMT SpikeyDT tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.7010343 http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=7010343&action=detail Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:21:00 GMT Lupo di mare tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.6860268 Our view: Buy
Share price: 81.25p (unchanged)

There are only two certainties in business life: legal fees and taxes. So a company that helps ease the pain when these twin demons strike is a compelling investment case. Abbey Protection, where interim pre-tax profits were up 11 per cent to £4.7m yesterday, sells insurance against legal and professional services fees incurred by small and medium-sized business. The results showed more businesses are signing up for its services and there are convincing arguments to suggest this will continue.

Despite some consolidation in the legal and professional services industries, fees remain cripplingly high for small businesses caught at the wrong end of a lawsuit or regulatory investigation. And the risk that a company will face such action continues to increase. HM Revenue & Customs, the Office of Fair Trading and the Health and Safety Executive are just three of several regulators with sharp claws. Many of their investigations fall away but the cost of putting up even a basic defence can wipe out small firms with tight cash flows.

Then there's the threat of private litigation. In this environment we believe businesses will take the hit now by buying insurance to avoid a potential nightmare in the future. Buy.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/investment-column-go-ahead-and-hold-goahead-for-the-divvy-2069165.html By CORBYNZ ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=6860268&action=detail Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:52:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.5909231 http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=5909231&action=detail Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:25:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.5875752 http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=5875752&action=detail Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:39:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.5305558
A solid performer with plenty of mileage still to come in the share price. By CORBYNZ ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=5305558&action=detail Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:31:00 GMT CORBYNZ tag:iii.co.uk,2003:tst.5273689
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/recommendations/1070022/abbey-protection.thtml By InvestingGarden ]]> http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:ABB.L&display=discussion&id=5273689&action=detail Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:53:00 GMT InvestingGarden