JTC Plc (LON:JTC), the global professional services business, has issued the following trading update in advance of its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2024.
2024 marked the first year of the Company’s Cosmos era business plan, during which it aims to double revenue and underlying EBITDA from that reported in 2023 (revenue £257.4m; underlying EBITDA £85.9m) within a four-year timeframe. This would represent the third time that the company has doubled in size since its listing in 2018, with the prior Odyssey era (2018 to 2020) and Galaxy era (2021 to 2023) plans being delivered successfully through a combination of organic and inorganic growth and our unique employee Shared Ownership culture.
The Group’s notable achievements in the period include the completion of five acquisitions (Blackheath, Hanway, FRTC-DE, FFP and Buck UK), noting the previously announced delay in the FFP completion. In addition, the acquisition of Citi Trust in the US, announced in H2 2024, cements JTC’s position as the leading independent provider of global trust services. The acquisition is on track to complete before the end of Q2 2025. While the Group remains highly focused on the integration of these acquisitions and completion of the Citi Trust deal, it maintains a well-developed pipeline of further opportunities.
Guidance for net organic revenue growth per annum was raised from a range of 8% – 10% in the Galaxy era to 10%+ for the Cosmos era. This has been achieved in 2024, supported by a record year for new business wins with year on year growth of 15.9% to £35.7m (2023: £30.8m). The US was a key driver of this performance across both Divisions, highlighting its significant growth potential for the Group.
The Group’s underlying EBITDA margin will be within the guidance range of 33% – 38% and reflects the Group’s continued investment in organic growth. Following the series of acquisitions, leverage at period end, excluding the Citi Trust transaction, will be at the bottom of the guidance range of 1.5x – 2.0x underlying EBITDA. Cash conversion will be at the top end of the guidance range of 85% – 90%.
The Board expects the Group to deliver full year results in line with market expectations[1], after allowing for the impact of the later than expected FFP completion and FX headwinds.
The Company’s award-winning Shared Ownership programme, where 100% of employees are direct owners, recognised the achievements of the Galaxy era with an award of c.£50m in JTC shares to eligible employees in July 2024, with half the award vesting on grant and the second half vesting on the first anniversary (July 2025), subject to conditions of continuous employment being met. Awards are satisfied upon vesting by transferring existing Ordinary Shares warehoused in the JTC PLC Employee Benefit Trust to each participant. Consequently, the grant of these awards is non-dilutive to the existing shareholders of the Group.
The annual employee survey, carried out in November 2024, had a participation rate of 89% and 86% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they value being an employee owner at JTC. Staff retention for 2024 was 96%, which once again exceeded the Company’s key performance indicator of 90%+, and is industry leading.
Nigel Le Quesne, CEO of JTC PLC, said:
“The Group made a fast start to the Cosmos era in 2024, with our people energised by the success and momentum of the excellent results achieved in 2023. Having raised our guidance for organic growth for this era we have delivered on this key metric, which is a strong result in light of a weaker fundraising environment. The record performance in new business wins, particularly from the US, helps underscore our confidence in continuing to deliver against the increased organic growth target. Our ability to source high quality acquisitions was again demonstrated, with six deals being completed or announced, including the transformational acquisition of Citi Trust which, upon completion, will cement our position as the largest independent provider of private trust services in the high-growth US market.
“We continue to invest in our global platform to support and capture long-term growth, expanding our service offering and jurisdictional footprint both organically and inorganically. As owners of the business, we all remain extremely ambitious for the Group’s long-term success and are confident that we are well on track with our Cosmos era goal to double the size of JTC for the third time since IPO.”
Notice of results
JTC will announce its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2024 on Tuesday 8 April 2025. A briefing will be given by Nigel Le Quesne, Chief Executive Officer, and Martin Fotheringham, Chief Financial Officer, at 09:30 BST via video / audio conference.
