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LONDON (Alliance News) - Financial services provider Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) PLC said on Tuesday it has lifted its dividend after double digit growth in profit and revenue for the first half of 2018.
Pretax profit for the six months to the end of June rose by 11% to GBP7.0 million on revenue that grew by 17% to GBP57.9 million.
The interim dividend was increased to 10.6 pence per share, up 12% from 9.5p the prior year.
The average number of advisers for the period rose by 13% to 1,103 due to both an expansion by existing appointed representative firms and the recruitment of new representatives, which led to a 25% increase in gross mortgage lending to GBP6.5 billion.
MAB said the three core areas of its income are mortgage procuration fees, protection & general insurance commission, and client fees. Mortgage procuration fees was the biggest contributor and saw the highest level of growth, growing revenue by 31% to GBP26.8 million.
MAB said that current trading is in line with expectations with adviser numbers continuing to grow since the period end with adviser numbers at 1,175 numbers as at September 21.
"I'm very pleased with our results for the first half, with revenue up 17% and profit before tax up 11% on the prior year despite market headwinds. We have built upon our established track record to deliver further top and bottom line growth, with a clear outperformance against the housing market which has seen a 5% fall in the number of transactions compared to the equivalent period in 2017," said Chief Executive Peter Brodnicki.
Shares in Mortgage Advice Bureau were down 2.5% at 630.00 pence on Tuesday.