IntegraFin enjoys solid interims as profits and revenue climb

IntegraFin Holdings on Friday reported interim revenue and profit growth following an increase in funds under direction, as it declared a maiden interim dividend and expressed confidence that growth can be sustained in the second half of the year.

The financial services provider's profit before tax increased to £22.4m for the six month period ended 31 March, up 20% over the same period last year, as funds under direction jumped by 16% to £34.4bn and revenue increased 7% to £47.6m.

Consequently, the board opted to declare its first interim dividend in respect of the six months to 31 March 2019 of 2.6p per ordinary share.

Growth in funds under direction was initially hampered by market volatility in the three months to 31 December 2018, recovering over the second quarter of the financial year as the FTSE 250-traded company achieved net flows of £1.8bn.

The number of clients using the company's Transact platform increased by 9% to 173,000 at March 2019, while the number of advisers using the platform increased by 8% to 5,715.

Meanwhile, revenue growth was spurred by 6% growth in commission income to £41.3m and 13% growth in wrapped fee income to £4.4m due to an increase in the number of open tax wrappers.

Ian Taylor, chief executive of IntegraFin, said: "We are pleased to announce a solid set of results for the first half of the year. Despite the backdrop of political uncertainty and stock market volatility, Transact has maintained strong positive H1 net inflows. We remain confident we are well placed to sustain growth as we move into the second half of the year."

IntegraFin's shares were up 1.29% at 411.30p at 0807 BST