Mortgage Advice Bureau Regulatory News (MAB1)

21 May 2019

Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) plc

AGM Statement

Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) plc ("MAB" or "the Group"), one of the UK's leading consumer intermediary brands and specialist Appointed Representative Networks, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 2pm today during which the Non-executive Chairman, Katherine Innes Ker, will make the following statement:

"Adviser numbers have continued to grow since our final results statement on 19 March 2019 and increased to 1,272 advisers as at 17 May 2019, representing an increase of 5% year to date. We continue to have good visibility that supports our anticipated growth in Adviser numbers from new Appointed Representatives ("ARs"). Although some of our existing ARs with direct links to the estate agency sector continue to pause their expansion plans and delay filling vacancies as a result of reduced confidence amid political uncertainty resulting in a somewhat subdued housing market, the majority of our ARs continue to hold strong growth plans for 2019 and 2020. However, against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty we have seen housing transactions taking longer to complete in this financial year to date, impacting the timing of our banked revenue. 

 "MAB firmly believes in the appropriateness of advice for the vast majority of customers who are making very important financial decisions when buying a home or remortgaging. MAB anticipated and prepared for the recommendations of the recently published Consultation Paper from the FCA on their Mortgage Market Study, which indicated an intent to lower barriers to execution-only offerings and encourage technological innovations in this regard.

"Our plans have always been to offer all the choices that customers would ever want, including execution only, and our technology solutions are being developed to facilitate the highest level of choice. Our commitment to customer advice is to simplify the process significantly and deliver advice however customers choose, to ensure advice is the natural and obvious choice for all customers, and for all transaction types regardless of the level of complexity.

"MAB is focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth and providing the best possible solutions and outcomes for customers. Despite a market that continues to face the twin challenges of political and economic uncertainty, we believe MAB is ideally positioned to continue increasing its market share, and to focus on wider Group success and profitability through new opportunities and broadening our addressable market."

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