2017 Annual Report

This report relates to the audited results for the year ended 31 March 2017. The year was another difficult period for the Group as the accounts demonstrate. To recap, the Board went through wholesale change during 2016 following a strategic review initiated to address the very difficult trading and cashflow position.

As the restructuring work progressed it became clear that the problems identified were deeper than initially thought and new issues were uncovered. There has been a further 48 % fall in net asset value as shown in the table in the Financial Review on page 13.

This has resulted from a combination of one-off restructuring costs, continued difficult trading conditions and the ongoing legacy of the Group’s investment contracts which included guaranteed buy-backs. Over the year a huge amount was achieved as detailed more fully in the Business Review below. Most notably…