3rd Dec 2020 08:52
(Alliance News) - AJ Bell PLC on Thursday lifted its payout after reporting double-digit earnings growth in its most recently ended financial year.
The Manchester, England-based stockbroker services provider said pretax profit rose by 29% during the year to the end of September to GBP48.6 million from GBP37.7 million, as revenue increased by 21% to GBP126.7 million from GBP104.9 million.
AJ Bell upped its dividend by 28% year-on-year to 6.16 pence from 4.83p paid a year ago.
"Our focus on providing an easy-to-use platform at a competitive price has resulted in growth in customer numbers and assets under administration," said Chief Executive Andy Bell.
The company's assets under administration as at September 30 rose to GBP56.5 billion from GBP52.3 billion a year earlier, with a number of retail customers up 27% to 295,305 from 232,066.
"The long-term growth drivers of the platform market remain strong, with customers increasingly looking for good value, online solutions and we are well positioned to benefit from those trends," added Bell.
AJ Bell shares were trading 2.6% higher in London on Thursday at 435.66 pence each. So far in 2020, the stock is up 1.4%.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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