St James House sees EUR deposits decline in December

St James House said on Thursday that it had seen a "steady" performance in its payments division despite witnessing a slowdown in incoming EUR deposits of roughly 18%.

Limiting some of the impacts of the EUR decline, SJH said GBP/USD transactions had grown 43% in volume as the number of active multicurrency accounts grew by 5% over the 25 days ended 23 December, with the company expecting the take-up rate to "increase significantly" in the New Year.

The AIM-listed group added that there had been a 10% increase in the numbers of cards in circulation, although average transaction values per card for the period was £219, down from the previous monthly average spend per card of £340 as spending volumes remained "volatile" amid Covid lockdown measures in the second half.

SJH's lottery services unit report "a small rise" in the number of weekly entries into its draws over the final quarter of the year, while its legal services division continued to build its pipeline and saw an increase in current active cases of 78, giving a total of 260 cases with a gross work in progress value of £1.1m.

Chief executive Graeme Paton said: "The company has managed to maintain performance or grow across all divisions, which given the circumstances with the uncertainty caused by ever-changing travel and trading restrictions, the lack of clarity around Brexit causing massive distractions for customers and the usual seasonal break, is a performance that is testament to the dedication and hard work of our people."

As of 0830 GMT, SJH shares were down 11.22% at 35.51p.