Mortgage Advice Bureau posted full-year adjusted pre-tax profit up 13% to £27.2m after acquisitions – but adds it was on course for a record year until the mini-Budget.
The broker says its mortgage completions lifted 20% to £27.3bn, helping annual revenue rise 22% to £230.8m.
Its number of advisers rose 20% to 2,254, with each broker generating £116,000 of sales, up 1% on a year ago.
During the year the firm says it “successfully integrated” Fluent Money group, after buying 75% of the firm for £73m in cash last March.
The business says its annual profit lifted “mainly reflecting the anticipated increase following the acquisition of Fluent”.
It also bought 75% of Auxilium, a protection firm for the directly authorised market.
And lifted its stake in protection and general insurance advice firm Vita, to 75% from 49%.
However, the brokerage says the 23 September 2022 mini-Budget “triggered an immediate spike in the cost of borrowing, a withdrawal of many mortgage products and a tightening of underwriting criteria.
“This resulted in a significant housing market slowdown, with a 40% drop in mortgage approvals in the three months to 31 January 2023.
It adds the mini-Budget affected home purchases and remortgages as “consumers were unable or unwilling to commit to new purchases against the backdrop of the sharply rising cost of borrowing.”
The firm saw signs of a partial recovery in the mortgage market in February.
It adds: “We expect the market to continue to recover once affordability and consumer confidence return.
“The re-financing market should pick up significantly, with 1.8 million borrowers reaching the end of their existing deal in 2023.”
Mortgage Advice Bureau chief executive Peter Brodnicki says: “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 around 35% down year to date compared to the same period in 2022.”
The firm adds: “Mortgage Advice Bureau is in a very good position to deliver a far stronger financial performance in 2024.”
