Count on track


Marianne Perkovic
Count Financial has announced strong results for 2007, with net revenue growth up 24 per cent.
Shareholders at Count’s annual general meeting were given Count’s first profit guidance for 2007-08 and told to expect a strong year ahead, with a 24 per cent increase in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to around $36 million.
Count chief executive officer Marianne Perkovic announced that Count’s growth was on track, with combined funds and loans under advice going up 30 per cent to over $18.5 billion, making it the fifth largest dealer group.
Barry Lambert was re-elected as Count’s executive chairman and confirmed that Countplus is on track for two settlements scheduled for December and a third in early 2008, with an interim target of 10 by June 2008.
“At this stage, I don’t see any difficulty in Countplus acquiring the targeted $25 million in EBIT before listing,” he said.
“So that we can bed the acquisitions down before listing, we do not expect to list Countplus before late 2011. This date has been chosen because we wish to give as many Count members as possible the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the float.”
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