Oval grows EBITDA 15% as it closes in on £20m target

Oval is closing in on its target of £20m earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) after reporting 15% growth.

Speaking to Insurance Times about Oval’s annual results for 201-/13, group chief executive Peter Blanc revealed the broker had achieved EBITDA of £17.3m for the year ended 31 May 2013 (2012: £15m).

Blanc had set a £20m target when he took over from Phillip Hodson in March 2012.

When exceptional costs are stripped out of the EBITDA, that targets looks even closer as performance improves to £19.6m (2012: £17.7m).

Oval also managed to grow net revenue from insurance broking by 1% to £75.8m for 2013 from £74.7m in 2012.

Blanc said: “The story really is a small amount of revenue growth but, in this market, we think we are one of a small band that are actually growing organically. We’ve also controlled the costs and managed to increase the EBITDA quite substantially.”

Net bank debt at the broker is also down, falling to £28.2m. This is a reduction of 22% on the 2012 net bank debt level of £36.3m.

Blanc was keen to point out that these results were achieved organically, with no acquisitions being completed over the year. However, he said that Oval was currently in talks to acquire some small bolt-on companies.

Blanc said: “We’ve got three small opportunities that we are looking at at the moment and we are hoping at least one or two of them will come to fruition over the next couple months.”

The broker chief also confirmed that, despite the rumours, Oval was not up for sale. “We are just getting on with business,” he said.