(Sharecast News) - Self-invested personal pension (SIPP) provider Curtis Banks posted a 14% jump in interim profit on Thursday and lifted its dividend despite muted activity in the pension transfer market.
In the six months to 30 June, pre-tax profit rose to £5.4m from £4.8n in the first half of last year, with assets under administration up 9.6% to £27.5bn. However, the number of SIPPs administered by Curtis slipped to 77,175 from 77,552.
The company said that despite its profitable growth, activity in the pension transfer market has remained "muted". In addition, it noted that client and adviser sentiment has remained weak as concerns over Brexit and general political uncertainty take their toll.
Curtis lifted its interim dividend to 2.5p a share from 2.0p. This reflects its "strong performance and continued belief in the improved performance of the group", it said.
Chief executive officer Will Self said: "This is a solid set of results for the first six months of 2019 with the period under review showing an increase in our key financial metrics. Once again, the group has continued to grow profitably and maintains a high proportion of quality recurring earnings which demonstrates the resilience of our business against some current headwinds in the SIPP industry and wider marketplace.
"Through initiatives to stimulate both organic and inorganic growth, as well as successfully diversifying revenues by broadening our capability to commercial property clients, we have navigated the first half of 2019 extremely well. I am confident and excited about our prospects for further growth."
The company said it kicked off the second half of 2019 with good momentum.
At 1245 BST, the shares were down 3.2% at 300p.
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