AJ Bell posted a record financial performance for its fiscal year, with pre-tax profits leaping 29% to £113.3m and revenue jumping 23% to £269.4m.
The financial highlights were supported by strong figures across both its platform and budding investments business. AJ Bell’s platform business grew assets under administration by 22% to £86.5bn, with net inflows accounting for £6.1bn and market movements £9.5bn.
AJ Bell Investments grew by 45% in the year, to £6.8bn assets under management with net inflows of £1.5bn.
Michael Summersgill (pictured), chief executive officer at AJ Bell, said: “We remain committed to our purpose of helping people invest, focusing on our three strategic drivers: trust, ease of use, and low-cost. Over the past year, we have reduced fees for our customers and invested in our platform with a focus on ease of use, while sustaining our multi-year strategy to increase brand awareness.
“These factors, together with our market-leading customer service levels, have all contributed to our organic growth in the year, driving further market share gains in the growing UK investment platform market.”
See also: AJ Bell reduces charges for multi-asset income range
This year, AJ Bell had a customer retention rate of 94.2%, a percentage point decrease from 2023’s 95.2%.
Following the performance, AJ Bell has proposed a dividend of 8.25 pence per share, an increase of 16% from last year. It will also begin a share buyback programme of £30m.
Chair Fiona Clutterbuck said: “During the year the board approved a new capital allocation framework. This reaffirmed our commitment to continue to invest in our organic growth plans and pay a progressive annual ordinary dividend.
“We have also committed to reviewing our capital position annually and will consider returning any surplus funds to shareholders through a share buyback or special dividend, in accordance with our capital allocation policy.”
This story was written by our sister title, Portfolio Adviser
