MFG Miller Fisher

RNS Number:6369X
Miller Fisher Group PLC
24 June 2002



For immediate release                                               24 June 2002

                            MILLER FISHER GROUP PLC

                                 AGM STATEMENT


At the Annual General Meeting of the Company, to be held today at 12pm, the
following statement will be made.


I explained in my statement in the Annual Report and Accounts 2001 that the
major preoccupation of your board in the latter part of 2001 was to put your
company on a sounder financial footing so that new business could be won and
revenues and profits rebuilt.


The financial restructuring, which involved the subscription for £13.25m of
preference shares by the Bank of Scotland, was completed in March 2002. This
restructuring was effected in order to remove the uncertainty surrounding the
Group's future, and restore financial confidence in the Group amongst the
group's customers, so allowing a rebuilding of the customer base.


Our revenue rebuilding programme has started well. In the UK our claims
management and administration business has secured a number of new contracts.
These include several warranty, creditor and travel schemes for our Business
Solutions division based at Waltham Cross which are expected to be worth at
least £1.2m in a full year. Our UK Motor Inspection operation has won new
business estimated to be worth approximately £500k in a full year and our
Investigation Operation has also achieved a number of valuable successes. The UK
Adjusting business continues to trade against a difficult background but has
nonetheless made progress in developing additional revenues, the benefit of
which, estimated to be approximately £1.0m per annum, will be seen in the second
half. In addition the UK business is dealing with a record number of enquiries
from potential clients and the outlook for further wins is encouraging.


We announced in May a number of new contracts for Miller Farrell in Ireland
which has had a strong first half of the year. July will see the launch of its
outsourcing operation "Miller Farrell Solutions" and this is expected to provide
opportunities for further expanding the business. Miller International has also
made progress and has won several new nominations on major construction projects
both in the UK and abroad on behalf of underwriters such as AIG, Generali, Swiss
Re and Munich Re.


Overall the new contract wins achieved by the Group in the first half of this
year have an annualized value of in excess of £3 million. We have continued the
reorganization of our UK operations, and costs have now been reduced by
approximately £10m per annum compared to last year, the full benefits of which
will be felt in the second half of 2002.


Since it will take time for the benefits of the new business and cost savings to
flow through to the bottom line, as expected we will report a loss for the first
half of the year. However we expect a return to profitability during the second
half of 2002 and a return to cash generation at the operating level by the end
of the year. However, the company is operating within tight cash constraints
and, now being confident of the sustained improvement in revenues, combined with
the lower cost base, your Board considers it necessary that further permanent
capital be raised in the second half of the year. In the meantime, we continue
to experience net cash outflows, and are in discussions with our bankers to
provide us with further short term facilities until the funds proposed to be
raised by the equity issue are received. It is intended that these funds would
be used, inter alia, to clear a number of historic creditors that, in the main,
predate the recent financial restructuring, and for further investment to
develop the business.


Overall we consider that the future prospects are now much more positive. The
distribution of insurance products by retail and financial services companies
continues on an upward trend and the requirement for quality outsourcing
services is growing. We live in an increasingly claims motivated environment and
there is a substantial market for the services that we provide.






John Hodson

Chairman

24 June 2002




For further information, please contact:

Miller Fisher Group Ltd                                            020 7398 8700
Richard Horton, Finance Director

Grandfield                                                         020 7417 4170
Clare Abbot/Olly Scott



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