14 May 2024

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

GATELEY (HOLDINGS) PLC

("Gateley or the "Group")

TRADING UPDATE, NOTICE OF RESULTS, AND BOARD CHANGE

Trading update and notice of results

Gateley (AIM: GTLY), the professional services group, announces a trading update ahead of its full year results for the year ended 30 April 2024 (the "Period"), which are expected to be announced on 16 July 2024.

Revenue for the Group grew by c.5.7% in the Period and is expected to be not less than £172.0m (FY 23: £162.7m). During the Period, the board remained committed to its long-term strategic plan and continued to invest in, strengthen and diversify the business. Group underlying profit before tax* for the Period is expected to be not less than £22.8m (FY 23: £25.1m), reflecting the board's decision this year, unlike last, to make a provision of £4.5m for employee bonuses.  

The Group maintains a strong balance sheet with net cash of £3.3m (FY23: £4.3m), net of in-Period investment in acquired and organic opportunities to generate future growth and supporting the employee benefit trust with its recent purchase of shares. 

Board change

David Wilton was appointed to the board as a non-executive director and Chairman designate on 1 February 2024. The board and David have mutually agreed not to continue with David's appointment as Chairman and David will stand down from the board with effect from today's date. 

The nomination committee has begun a process to recruit a new Chairman. In the meantime, Nigel Payne has been asked, and has agreed to, continue to Chair the Group until a successor is appointed.

Commenting on the results, Rod Waldie, Chief Executive Officer of Gateley, said: 

"I am pleased with the outturn for FY 24 which was helped by strong activity levels in Q4. This positions us well as we enter FY 25. The Group continues to benefit from the resilience created by our strategy of investing in an increasingly diverse but complementary range of professional services. Our strong balance sheet also provides a solid foundation from which to take a long-term view of potential growth opportunities, as well as providing the bandwidth to deliver a strong dividend yield for our shareholders.

"I would like to thank our clients for their support and our dedicated people for their ongoing hard work, commitment and can-do attitude. I would also like to thank David for his contribution to the board during his time with us.

"The board remains confident in its strategy and we continue to invest in both legal and consultancy services to further grow the Group and we look forward to the future with confidence."

*Underlying profit before tax excludes remuneration for post-combination services, gain on bargain purchase, share-based payment charges, acquisition related amortisation and exceptional items.

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