22 March 2023

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

XPS Pensions Group plc

Pre-close trading update

A strong finish to the year, anticipated ahead of expectations

XPS Pensions Group plc ("XPS" or the "Group") is pleased to provide its pre-close trading update (unaudited) for the year ending 31 March 2023 ahead of its full year results expected to be released in late June.

Trading update

The Group has continued to perform strongly, and the Board now expects revenues for the full year to be ahead of current consensus, in the range of £163 million - £165 million, representing YoY growth of 17% - 19%.  

The resilience and predictability of our business model has driven a strong performance for the year. As previously highlighted, the inflation-linkage of our contracts across our services has supported growth, albeit for many contracts this only took effect mid-year and so will not be fully reflected in FY23.

Our Advisory business has continued to see high levels of client activity, driven in part by continued regulatory changes and demand for advice in response to the increased volatility in financial markets, following the "mini-budget" in September 2022.  We have also seen significant growth in Risk Transfer services as funding positions have improved and clients have looked to de-risk. Our Pensions Administration, SIP and NPT businesses have all performed in line with expectations.        

The Group has continued to invest in people and technology to support future growth. The Board is confident that costs have been managed well and expects operational gearing to have improved.

Capital Markets Day

The Group plans to host a Capital Markets Day event for analysts and institutional investors in London in May 2023.  Further details of the event and registration will be announced in due course.  We anticipate that the Group's next trading update will also be on the same day.

Paul Cuff, Co-CEO commented:

"We are pleased to be on course for a strong financial performance for the year.  It was a year of extraordinary change in financial markets, with rising interest rates and inflation posing significant challenges for our clients.  I am very proud of how well we have served them throughout, and I would like to thank all our people for their extraordinary dedication."

-Ends-

For further information, contact:

Enquiries:

The person responsible for making this announcement is Zoe Adlam (Company Secretary)

Notes to Editors:

XPS Pensions Group is a leading pension consulting and administration business focussed on UK pension schemes. XPS combines expertise, insight and technology to address the needs of over 1,500 pension schemes and their sponsoring employers on an ongoing and project basis. We undertake pensions administration for over 1 million members and provide advisory services to schemes and corporate sponsors in respect of schemes of all sizes, including 51 with assets over £1bn.