Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) plc has issued a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2019, ahead of publishing its interim results announcement on 24 September.
Revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2019 increased by 5% (8% on an underlying basis) to £61m driven primarily by a 13% increase in the average number of advisers to 1,242 over the period.
The total number of advisers had increased to 1,293 at 30 June 2019, an increase of 80 or 7% since last year end (1,213 at 31 December 2018).
In its statement, MAB said that although some of its 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, encouragingly the majority of our ARs continue to hold strong growth plans for 2019 and 2020”.
On completion of its acquisition of First Mortgage Direct Limited, MAB funded £10m of the purchase price of £16.5m from the enlarged group’s cash balances.
Peter Brodnicki (pictured), CEO of Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) plc, said: “Despite continued political uncertainty it has been a very positive six months for MAB. After a slow first quarter we are seeing strong growth in adviser numbers, putting us firmly on track to achieve our full year objective.
“In addition, adviser numbers will be further increased in H2 by the acquisition of one of the very best performing and highly respected UK brokers, First Mortgage Direct. This has been a tremendous addition to the MAB Group, adding to the growing number of exceptional firms choosing to partner with MAB, that will play a major role in our plans to grow market share through increasing adviser numbers and productivity.
“These objectives will be supported by a programme of technology developments that will be released to our distribution in H2 and throughout 2020, as well as our plans to broaden our addressable market and customer offering.
“Against this backdrop, I remain confident of delivering our growth plans in line with our strategy.”