Link plunges to $418m loss on British woes

afr.com:

Link Group will plummet to a bottomline loss of $418 million in the 12 months to June 30 because of heavy one-offs and provisions stemming mainly from a messy exit from a troubled United Kingdom business.

The superannuation administrator and share registry company released its preliminary unaudited results on Thursday, outlining the financial effects of extricating itself from a disastrous UK acquisition made six years ago, along with other one-offs including a $35 million impairment as it cuts the amount of office space it is using across the company.

Link, in a statement, said the core Link business was performing well. Revenues for the year were up 4.5 per cent to $1.23 billion, while operating earnings before interest and tax are up 15.7 per cent to $178 million.

Link is selling most of the British business, Link Fund Solutions to Irish group Waystone in a complex deal announced months ago. Link said on Thursday the sale will now occur across two financial years. The company will make a provision of $391 million for the last 12 years to June 30 in connection to the sale and associated financial redress agreed with UK regulators. It then expects to recognise a gain of $280 million this year on completion of the Fund Solutions sale, expected to settle in October.

Link Group bought a business in the UK in 2017 which has proved to be a serious drain on the company, after a $6 billion Woodford fund run by former star stock picker Neil Woodford went bust.  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has helped broker a deal where Link will pay as much as £235 million ($436 million) compensation to those who lost money in the collapse of a $6 billion Woodford retail fund in 2019.

The Woodford fund, which had been run by star