Risk Management
Principal risks and uncertainties The Group has determined its key principal risks as those risks that the Group considers material and which could have a significant impact on the Group’s financial position, its operations and/or reputation. Risk management The Group’s principal risk management processes comprise risk registers and reviews, control risk self-assessment and Risk Management Committee. The Group faces a diverse range of risks and uncertainties which could have an adverse e¦ect on its success if not managed. The Group has designed and embedded a risk management process to identify and monitor potential risks and uncertainties relevant to the Group and then seeks to eliminate or reduce these to the lowest extent possible to protect the business, its people and customers, and support delivery of its strategy. The risk management process is intended to mitigate and reduce risk to the lowest extent possible but cannot eliminate all risks to the Group and its businesses. The Group’s risk management process and controls can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. The risk management process incorporates both top-down and bottom-up elements to the identification, evaluation and management of risks. Mitigating controls are identified and opportunities for the enhancement are implemented. Risk Governance The Board of Management is ultimately responsible for the Group’s system of risk management and internal controls and reviews their e¦ectiveness on a regular basis throughout the year. Risk overview The Board of Management recognises that the risks faced by the Group change and it regularly assesses risks to manage and mitigate any impact. Summarised on pages 18 and 19 are the key risks, not in order of significance that the Board of Management has identified as the primary risks to the Group’s successful financial performance, reputation or operations in the year ended 31 December 2017 and future years. Financial risk management Whistl Group Holdings Limited has established processes to identify, monitor, mitigate and where feasible, eliminate these risks.
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT Management consider capital to consist of equity plus net debt as disclosed in the balance sheet. The primary objective of the Group’s capital management is to ensure healthy capital ratios in order to support its business and maximise shareholder value. The Group’s financial instruments comprise of cash and liquid resources and various other items, such as receivables and trade payables that arise directly from its operations. The Group’s policy is to finance its operations through operating cash flows and have access to a fully committed £65m facility from RBS. MARKET RISK The Group’s activities are principally provided to UK businesses and as a result the fortunes of the business are linked to the general health of the UK economy. The company’s exposure is limited by having a broad customer base but the business remains exposed to fluctuations in marketing budgets, e-substitution, recession and continued market evolution. REGULATORY RISK The business is trading in a regulated area which a¦ords a level of protection against any anti- competitive behaviour, mandates access to Royal Mail’s network and controls elements of Royal Mail’s pricing against which we compete. The Regulator, Ofcom, has recently conducted a Fundamental Regulatory Review and concluded that these protections should extend for a further five years to 2022. Management considers this risk to be manageable.
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Risk Management | Whistl Annual Report 2017
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