The network reported a rise in gross mortgage lending, including product transfers, of six per cent to £6.9bn compared to H1 2018. Gross mortgage lending arranged with new lenders was up by 7 per cent to £6.3bn.
However, the adviser reported that “uncertainty resulting from the extended Brexit negotiations,” had impacted current trading for estate agency-based appointed representatives (ARs), saying that it “continues to be muted and similar to our experience towards the end of 2018 and H1 2019.
“Following a slower than expected start to the year in Q1 2019 in written and banked business, and despite productivity being in line with expectations for Q2 2019, we expect overall revenue per adviser for the year to be slightly below that of 2018.”
The underlying revenue per adviser fell by four per cent in H1 2019, owing to “lower banked productivity,” the company said.
Meanwhile, adviser numbers grew by seven per cent to 1,293 as of June 2019 and stood at 1,242, up 13 per cent, on average during the six-month period.
First Mortgage Direct
The figures exclude 90 advisers that were added through the acquisition of First Mortgage Direct as the transaction completed after 30 June.
Adviser numbers had reached 1,433 as of 20 September 2019.
MAB paid an initial cash consideration of £16.5m for 80 per cent of First Mortgage, valuing the acquired business at £20.6m. The transaction completed on 2 July.
The company said it expected the deal “to be significantly earnings accretive in the first full year following completion and thereafter”.
New business platform
MAB reported gross profits up nine per cent to £14.2m in H1 2019. Gross margin strengthened to 23.3 per cent, up from 22.5 per cent in H1 2018. Revenue grew five per cent to £60.9m and by nine per cent on an underlying basis.
The interim dividend climbed to 11.1p from 10.6p in 2018.
Peter Brodnicki, chief executive at MAB, said: “In addition to strong growth achieved in H1 and into H2 2019, adviser numbers have further increased through the acquisition of one of the very best performing and highly respected UK brokers, First Mortgage.
“This has been a tremendous addition to MAB Group, adding to the growing number of exceptional firms choosing to partner with us, and will play a major role in our plans to grow our market share through increasing adviser numbers and productivity.
“Against this backdrop, I remain confident of delivering further growth in line with our strategic plans.
“We’re pleased to have completed the first development phase of our new business platform, which we’re testing with a number of our business partners before rolling out to all our firms during the course of 2019 and into 2020.
“We are focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth by providing the best solutions and outcomes for customers, largely driven by our significant focus on technology.
“We plan to continue growing our market share and mortgage completions while leading the evolutions of intermediary distribution,” Brodnicki added.
