The advice firm’s new mortgage lending grew from 6.4 per cent of the market to 7.5 per cent.
The average revenue generated by each adviser in the group rose by one per cent to £116,100. This coincided with a 20 per cent growth in its adviser numbers, which totalled 2,254 by the end of the year. This included 2,074 mainstream advisers.
MAB conducted £27.3bn in gross mortgage completions including product transfers, which was up by a fifth on the year before.
Some 32 per cent of its revenue came from refinances, up from a share of 25 per cent in 2021. Product transfers accounted for 21 per cent of its mortgage completions, up from 17 per cent the year before.
Its gross profit increased by 24 per cent to £62.9m while its statutory profit before tax came to £17.4m, a 25 per cent decline.
Impact of the mini Budget
MAB’s adviser headcount has fallen since the end of 2022 and as of 24 March 2023, the group had 2,129 advisers.
MAB put this down to its appointed representative (AR) firms reacting to the fallout of September’s mini Budget which shocked the markets.
The budget also affected its performance this year.
Peter Brodnicki (pictured), chief executive of MAB, said: “Prior to the mini Budget in September, the Group was on track for 2023 to be a record year of growth, despite an expected softening in housing transactions due to inflationary pressures.
“Although mortgage transaction levels have improved since the collapse post-mini Budget, they remain circa 35 per cent down year to date compared to the same period in 2022.”
MAB expects adviser numbers to stabilise in the second quarter of 2023, then rise as business volumes improve.
The firm said 2023 would be a “strong year ahead for refinancing” and said it was confident it would continue to grow its market share.
“MAB is in a very good position to deliver a far stronger financial performance in 2024,” it added.
Acquisitions and business strategy
MAB completed its acquisition of a 75.4 per cent holding in The Fluent Money Group in 2022, which it said was “transformational” for its lead generation strategy. This acquisition added 182 advisers to its headcount and £21.9m in additional revenue.
It purchased a 75 per cent stake in specialist protection service provider Auxilium Partnership in November, which resulted in 161 additional directly authorised (DA) advisers and £200,000 in revenue.
The group also increased its stake in financial planning firm Vita from 49 per cent to 75 per cent.
In March, MAB entered four debt facilities with Natwest including a £20m term loan and a £15m revolving credit facility which is to be used for the Fluent acquisition.
A strong year despite challenges
Brodnicki added: “Despite a challenging year for mortgage intermediaries on numerous fronts, I am pleased with our 2022 performance and market share growth.
“MAB is performing considerably better than wider transaction numbers reflect and our market share is continuing to grow strongly. Current trading is in line with our expectations and we expect a second half weighted financial performance. This is a strong performance considering the fall in gross mortgage approvals since October 2022 is of a similar scale to the fall seen during the Global Financial Crisis, rather than the normal and more easily managed peaks and troughs we see during fluctuating housing cycles.”
He said: “We continue to invest in our employees, with the significant capital investment in our Derby head office providing an excellent working environment to support the accelerated growth expected in the medium term.
“We expect the housing and mortgage markets to recover as they always do, and in the meantime, MAB continues to strengthen its proposition and use the more challenging market to onboard more high-quality firms and grow market share.”
