Bell Financial finishes down
Bell Financial Group has emerged as the latest financial services player to report an annual result significantly impacted by the latest market turmoil, with net profit down by more than 50 per cent to $14,437,000.
The company told the Australian Securities Exchange that its revenues and profits had been directly impacted by the significant decline in share market values and the reduction in share trading volumes and equity market activity during the period.
Bell Financial chairman Colin Bell said the group’s first year as a listed company had been tough but that it managed to finish the year with its balance sheet intact, no operating debt in the core broking business and no significant asset write-downs.
“The growth in revenue for our futures and foreign exchange business has been pleasing for the group,” he said. “I am also pleased to report that Bell Potter Capital, which provides our in-house margin lending and cash products, became profitable towards the end of the year.”
Bell said as a group, the company expected further consolidation in the industry as revenues contract and as some of the larger global investment banks question doing business in the Australian market and as some of the smaller brokers reflect on the ASX’s new capital requirements.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
