Mortgage Advice Bureau (Holdings) has cut its full-year profit outlook by around £5 million, to £38 million.

The mortgage giant revised its profit expectations in a stock exchange note today.

MAB said the expected recovery in 2026 UK house purchase activity failed to happen and the rollout of new lead flows at Fluent was delayed.

Fluent is a specialist lending broker that MAB bought in 2022.

As a result, MAB has cut its full-year profit before tax expectations from £43.4 million to £38 million.

MAB said adjusted profit before tax for the first half is now expected to be approximately £14.8 million, slightly ahead of the £14.6 million indicated in its 23 July trading update.

An anticipated easing in interest rates and gradual recovery in house purchase activity have not materialised. UK purchase transactions were 3% lower in the first seven months of 2026, while mortgage approvals for house purchases fell 15% year-on-year in July, according to the figures cited by the company.

MAB said the market remains predominantly driven by refinancing, with affordability constraints expected to keep activity weighted towards product transfers.

Fluent had been expected to benefit from new contractual lead flows following improvement to its mainstream first-charge mortgage proposition.

However, the launch of those arrangements has been delayed, meaning pilot costs have needed payment before the expected extra money rolled in.

MAB said the delays have pushed the expected profit growth from Fluent into 2027.

MAB chief executive Peter Brodnicki said: “While it is disappointing to revise our expectations for 2026, market conditions have softened since our July trading update, reducing our ability to offset the impact of delays to new lead flows into Fluent. While these delays have pushed the anticipated profit growth from Fluent into 2027, the updated guidance nevertheless represents Adjusted profit before tax growth of approximately 5% compared with 2025, demonstrating the resilience of our business model against a more challenging market backdrop.

“We are continuing to strengthen the group’s operating model by centralising administrative and support activities, increasing automation across the customer and adviser journey and integrating our invested businesses more closely. As this work progresses, we have greater visibility over the timing and delivery of the resulting operational and commercial synergies. These initiatives are simplifying processes, improving efficiency and supporting increased operating leverage as the group grows.

“Together with the significant opportunity presented by upcoming fixed-rate mortgage maturities, this progress leaves us well placed to deliver solid profit growth this year and strengthen performance into 2027.