Count touts profit upswing
Listed financial planning group Count Financial has forecast an $8 million operating profit for the current financial year.
The prediction was made by Count’s chairman Len Spencer at the group’s annual general meeting yesterday, despite what he says could be a continuing weak situation on investment markets.
“It is not in the company’s policy to make forecasts because of the volatile nature of the investment industry, however after four months we do have sufficient confidence in the business to give guidance than an operating profit, before earnings and tax, of around $8 million is in prospect,” Spencer says.
The result would represent a 29 per cent increase on Count’s operating profit for the previous financial year.
Spencer says the increase would come from continued growth in the group’s Wealth-e-account wrap platform, as well as a range of new services, such as the group’s home and commercial lending facilities.
“With the investment markets performing poorly, we have been able to rapidly grow our lending business. Unlike our investment activities, which still have enormous growth, our lending business appears to operate in a different business cycle, which help to smooth our income and profits,” Spencer says.
AUTHOR
George Liondis
Recommended for you
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew speaks with Steve Johnson, founder and CIO at Forager Funds Management, about the impact of human psychology on investing and whether fund managers can ever beat algorithms.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew speaks with Daniel Bower, chief product officer at FinClear, and Bill Keogh, chief executive of Transact1 (a FinClear subsidiary) to discuss cash as an asset class.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic is joined by shadow treasurer Angus Taylor to discuss the current state of the financial advice sector, the economy, the housing affordability crisis and more.
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew speaks with Andrew Mitchell, director and senior portfolio manager at Ophir Asset Management, about why he loves working in fund management and the lessons he’s learnt in a decade of running a firm.
