(Alliance News) - Mortgage Advice Bureau Holdings PLC on Tuesday reported "another" set of strong interim results, with arranged mortgages rising nearly 10%.
The firm increased gross mortgage lending with new lenders by 7% to GBP6.3 billion for the half to June 30, with gross mortgage lending arranged rising 6% to GBP6.9 billion.
MAB's revenue for the period rose 5% to GBP60.9 million, with pretax profit climbing 3% to GBP7.2 million. Pretax profit excluding acquisition costs climbed 6%.
The company has boosted the interim dividend by 5% to 11.1 pence per share.
Adviser numbers rose 13% to 1,242, and were 7% higher from December's end. However, underlying revenue per adviser fell 4% due to lower banked productivity.
Chief Executive Peter Brodnicki said: "I am delighted to report another set of strong results. Despite continued uncertainty, we have achieved strong revenue growth.
"In addition to our strong growth achieved in the first half and into the second, through both advisers joining existing advisers and the addition of new advisers, adviser numbers have further increased since the period end through the acquisition of one of the very best performing and highly respected UK brokers, First Mortgage, in July."
"This has been a tremendous addition to the MAB, adding to the growing number of exceptional firms choosing to partner with MAB, that will play a major role in our plans to grow our market share through increasing both adviser numbers and productivity. Against this backdrop, I remain confident of delivering further growth in line with our strategic plans," Brodnicki continued.
The company took an 80% stake in Edinburgh-based First Mortgage in June, for GBP16.5 million.
Looking ahead, MAB sees 2019 total gross new mortgage lending in the UK falling year-on-year, and the company's own revenue per adviser is also likely to fall on the year before.
"When overall consumer confidence returns we expect some pent-up demand in the housing market to be released and our estate agency focused advisers to respond in terms of delivering adviser growth," said MAB.
"We are confident that our strategy, driven by our advisers, their customers and their changing expectations, will continue to drive growth in MAB's market share year on year and deliver attractive returns to investors."
Shares were 0.4% higher on Tuesday morning at a price of 570.00p a share.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB1)