Iress has announced it will not now be selling its UK mortgage business. The data company u-turned on its earlier decision to sell off this division after global stock market volatility, which has impacted the valuation of technology companies.

The board said that it thought it could deliver better value for shareholders, clients and employees if Iress retained its mortgage business and continued to invest in it.

In total the mortgage businesses owned by the company contributed to £16.1m of revenue and £6.4m of NPAT during 2021. 

Announcing the decision Iress chief executive Andrew Walsh said: “As part of a board-led strategy review in 2021, it was decided that Iress would explore potential opportunities to divest its mortgages business. We stated at the outset of this divestment process that we would be disciplined both on price and the future owner’s credentials. After a thorough and well considered process, we have concluded that the best outcome for our shareholders, clients and people is for Iress to retain the business. 

“We will continue to invest in the mortgages business to execute on the strategic growth opportunity. In recent months, mortgages has increased its pipeline of opportunities as lenders demand greater scale, efficiency and automation in mortgage processing.”

The announcement was made as Iress published its annual results. Walsh added that the company was still looking to deliver on its 2025 growth targets.