Saga cruises off to 'good' start on quest for new Possibilities

Saga, the provider of products for the over-50s, said its insurance and travels business had enjoyed a "good" first quarter as it begins a major transition to a new business model.

Ahead of its annual shareholder meeting, the FTSE 250 company said the insurance and travel businesses "continued their good start to the year" during the period from 1 February to 21 June, despite citing the backdrop of changing political and economic environment.

In March, new chief executive Lance Batchelor laid out his strategy to shift Saga to a new lower-capital model where it will use its deep knowledge of its most loyal 'High Affinity Customers' to enable it to increase margins by acting as a broker of various third-party services under the name of 'Saga Possibilities'.

Said Batchelor on Thursday: "We remain on track to deliver on our strategic objectives, including the launch of our membership scheme, Saga Possibilities, which will go live later this year."

Interim results will be announced on 22 September.

Previewing the update earlier in the month, broker Numis thought the first quarter was too early for the company to show material progress with its new strategy.

"Recently there has been less emphasis on outright growth in insurance customer numbers but instead greater priority on attracting insurance customers that are likely to become HACs," said analyst Nick Johnson.

"As such we do not expect significant growth in insurance customers in either motor or home this year. Instead we expect the travel business to be the main short term growth driver," he said.