Watchstone FY loss narrows but impairment charges a drag

Watchstone Group, the insurance technology firm formerly known as Quindell, posted a slightly narrower loss for the year to the end of December.

The company, which made management changes and renamed itself in November in a bid to clean up its reputation following probes into its accounting practices, reported a loss of £178m compared with a £205.3m loss the year before, as revenues slipped to £58.3m from £58.8m.

Impairment of goodwill and other intangible and non-cash assets came to a total charge of £113.5m, down a touch from £129.1m in 2014.

Watchstone said overall trading is in line with expectations with some good momentum in ptHealth, ingenie and BAS.

Gross written premiums at car insurance broker ingenie rose 23% to £20.7m in the first quarter of this year, while average revenues per clinic at healthcare company ptHealth pushed up 12%.

Non-executive chairman Richard Rose said: "I am very pleased with the significant progress the group habs made over the course of the last twelve months. The new board has successfully refocused the group's strategic priorities while drawing a line under the past by working tirelessly to deliver the highest standards of corporate governance.

“The sale of our legal services business and the significant return of value to investors marked the start of rebuilding shareholder confidence and we are confident of continuing to deliver value. Watchstone now has solid foundations on which to build further and the Board and the management team are committed to maximising the potential of the remaining businesses."

Watchstone said the disposal of the Professional Services division generated a profit of £494.3m.

At 1050 BST, Watchstone shares were up 2.7% to 234.19p.