Curtis Banks profits on the up as SIPPs numbers grow
Financial services group Curtis Banks reported a 13% jump in 2018 profit on Wednesday as revenue and the number of new SIPPs administered increased.
Curtis Banks Group
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16:40 25/09/23
Financial Services
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In the 12 months to 31 December 2018, adjusted pre-tax profit was up 13% to £12.1m as operating revenue rose 6% to £46.1m and the number of SIPPs administered grew to 77,739 from 76,474.
Assets under administration edged up 0.4% during the year to £24.8bn and the company proposed a final dividend of 6p a share, taking the full-year payment to 8p from 6.25p in 2017.
Chief executive officer Will Self said: "In my first results as chief executive of the group I am delighted to report another year of strong and profitable growth. The past year has seen the company make significant investment to support further organic growth, building on the consolidation and integration prioritised over the last two years.
"We believe we are setting a high bar with the introduction of our new SIPP proposition. Coupled with our new distribution structure we are now well-placed to increase our organic growth of full and mid SIPPs over the next full reporting period. We are also well positioned to grow the business inorganically and are proactively exploring possible acquisitions."
Curtis Banks said that despite some well-publicised challenges which have led to lower gross sales across the industry, the overall SIPP market opportunity remains strong and still benefits from the introduction of the pension freedoms and favoured as a way of allowing individuals to have greater access, control and responsibility over their pension savings.
"There have been some well publicised challenges, from which no provider has been immune, which have led to lower gross sales across the industry. The defined benefits transfer review has impacted all professional advisers, spanning both DB and defined contribution pension transfer advice.
"Liabilities arising from SIPPs holding non-standard assets have reduced confidence in the SIPP market, and the general economic environment has reduced consumers' focus on pension savings. All of these factors have been felt across the industry but we believe that our robust financial strength, quality of administration and our new proposition puts us at the forefront of the sector."
At 1440 GMT, the shares were up 2.2% to 297.50p.