LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Investment platform AJ Bell defied the Brexit gloom as it reported higher first-half profits driven by higher customer numbers and an increase in managed assets.


Pre-tax profit rose 27% to £17.7m, while revenues were up 17% to £50.1m. An interim dividend of 1.50p per share was declared.

Net new business at the company, which listed last year, fell to £2.1bn from the £2.9bn in the same period last year.

Economic and political uncertainty was affecting customer behaviour, with dealing activity down 14% year on year, the company said.

"Defined benefit pension transfers continued to decline in line with industry trends and expectations, though still accounted for £0.5bn of inflows during the period, compared with £1.1bn in the prior year. The number of retail customers increased by 16,941 to 214,853 during the period, with our platform customer retention rate remaining high at 95.3%," it added.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE