(Sharecast News) - Specialist consultancy service Alpha Financial Markets said on Thursday that interim profits had slipped as a result of lower consultant utilisation and investments in further team expansion.
Alpha Financial delivered a 7.5% increase in revenues to £115.6m for the half, while net fee income grew 8.5%, principally as a result of organic growth.
However, the AIM-listed firm posted underlying profits of £20.1m, down from £22.5m a year earlier, while pre-tax profits decreased from £14.2m to £10.8m, impacted by higher acquisition-related costs.
Consultant headcount grew 14.1% year-on-year to 1,051, while Alpha FMC's number of clients increased to 971 from 787 a year ago. Alpha's sales cycle, on the other hand, lengthened throughout the half.
Chief executive Luc Baqué said: "As communicated in June and outlined in our pre-close trading update, we have seen a lengthening sales cycle and increased competition as a result of overcapacity in the global consulting market. The current market remains challenging but is progressively rebalancing.
"With our unique value proposition and unrivalled consulting team, we continue to see robust client demand and enter the second half of the year with a strong pipeline. We remain well positioned for future growth in the medium to long term, in line with our ambition to double the business again by 2028."
Alpha FMC also maintained its interim dividend at 3.70p per share.
As of 0925 GMT, Alpha FMC shares were down 1.26% at 353.0p.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (AFM)