Mortgage Choice reports a 7.4 per cent profit boost
Mortgage Choice has recorded a $15.9 million net profit after tax, an increase of 7.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
The mortgage broker has deemed this result a healthy financial performance, with the group's loan book also rising six per cent to $42.4 billion.
Chief executive officer Michael Russell said the past financial year was one of the most demanding for the company's brokers and staff in its 19 years of operation.
"First homebuyers' home loan appetite showed the largest fall because many were encouraged into the 2009 and 2010 marketplace by the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) boost."
The number of dwellings financed for first home buyers in the 2011 financial year was down 35 per cent on the last corresponding period.
"Financial year 2011 was especially challenging for mortgage brokers due to the prior financial year's FHOG boost bringing many purchases forward and the drop in Australians' financial confidence," Russell said.
"This damage was caused by a range of living cost hikes, November's out of cycle interest rate rises and speculation about further rises and a so-called housing bubble," he added.
Mortgage Choice received total commission revenue on a cash basis of $132.9 million, down 1.6 per cent.
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