Troubled emergency call-out insurer Homeserve shrugged off its potential mis-selling scandal today with the help of strong trading overseas.
The firm told shareholders at today’s annual meeting that it remains “on track to achieve our full-year customer number and retention targets” in the UK, despite being the subject of a Financial Services Authority probe.
The shares rose 3% today as the group grew customers in the US, Spain and France. Homeserve also has plenty of headroom against its £250 million bank facilities with net debt of £61 million. The firm, which said the UK investigation will take “a number of months” to complete, has beefed up his board with the appointment of David Bennett, the experienced former chief executive of Alliance & Leicester and a director of Abbey, since the scandal broke.
The firm was in the bid spotlight this week amid reports of a private-equity swoop although Homeserve denied it was in takeover talks.
Shares in the firm have been hammered since October when it suspended British telesales to address concerns over how its policies were being marketed and sold.
