Mortgage Advice Bureau posted pre-tax profit down 6.8% to £16.2m compared to a year ago, while its adviser headcount also fell as the network suffered “very challenging” 2023.

The broker business saw its advisers fall 4% to 2,158, while gross mortgage completions – including product transfers – was 8% lower at £25.1bn, it said in a stock market statement.

It pointed out that last year was a “difficult market backdrop” where new mortgage lending was down 29% across the market, as rising interest rates ate into the appetite of borrowers.

However, its share of new mortgage lending lifted to 8.3% from 7.5% share 12 months ago.

Also, revenue per mainstream adviser rose 6% following the full year impact of the acquisition of Fluent, which it bought in March 2022.

Mortgage Advice Bureau chief executive Peter Brodnicki added that 2024 had started well, with “purchase and re-financing activity having picked up significantly. 

“We believe this signals the early stages of a market recovery that builds towards a catch-up year in 2025, with pent-up demand continuing to be released as consumer confidence and affordability increase.”

He added: “Following the modest improvement in trading towards the end of last year, we have seen a very positive start to 2024 across both purchase and re-financing, including a long-awaited recovery in buy-to-let activity. 

“We previously reported our expectation that overall market activity would increase once inflation was under control and the Bank of England base rate had peaked or started to fall back. 

“Although a first reduction in the base rate is not expected until later this year, mortgage rates have reduced notably, the availability of mortgage products has increased, and mortgage underwriting criteria are starting to signal a more positive outlook.”