AJ Bell pre-tax profits fall despite swelling customer base
AJ Bell, one of the UK’s largest investment platforms, has continued to see customer growth following the pandemic-induced boom in retail investing, however pre-tax profits have slipped.
The platform’s customer base has grown by more than 35,500 in the six months to 31 March, to a total of 418, 309 – having already increased by one fifth in 2021.
The investment heavyweight, which has £74.1bn in assets under administration as of March, saw net inflows of £2.8bn in the period, buoyed by the boost in customers.
Though AJ Bell’s profit before tax sank 17 per cent in the six-month period, down from £31.6m to £26.1m. Meanwhile, revenue inched marginally higher to £75.5m, from £73.9m in the same period a year prior.
“The impact of normalised customer dealing activity and lower interest rates compared to the same period last year resulted in a lower revenue margin in this period,” chief executive Andy Bell said. “However, our diversified revenue model positions us well across all market conditions and we are now seeing the positive impact of recent interest rate rises on our revenue margins.
“Whilst market uncertainty is likely to persist in the short-term, our business model ensures we can continue to invest in our customer propositions whilst delivering strong financial performance and we expect profit before tax for the full year to be at least in line with consensus market expectations.”