Iress signals availability of capital for M&As
Iress will be spending much of 2021 bedding down its acquisition of OneVue but the company has signalled that it has funds on hand to undertake further mergers or acquisitions.
In a market briefing accompanying the release of its full-year results, Iress chief financial officer, John Harris pointed to the “upsized” $175 million it had raised as part of its acquisition of OneVue and said this higher figure had been pursued as part of an expectation that “the volatile economic environment would flush out further M&A opportunities”.
“This additional M&A capacity has not yet been deployed but we continue to have a keen eye for opportunities to leverage the strength of our balance sheet, our software capability and our global team for the benefit of shareholders,” he said.
The Iress update made clear that its dominant position in the Australian financial advice market had been a factor with growth in Australian advice and superannuation driving revenue up 8%.
“Growth in this segment reflects the underlying strength of our position in the financial advice market as we help the industry adapt and transition following the Hayne Royal Commission” he said.
“As we have said previously, we see long term opportunity for software in the Australian market, albeit with some heightened risk of half on half volatility in the short term.”
Recommended for you
ASIC has launched court proceeding against the responsible entity of three managed investment schemes with around 600 retail investors.
There is a gap in the market for Australian advisers to help individuals with succession planning as the country has been noted by Capital Group for being overly “hands off” around inheritances.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of an advice firm associated with Shield and First Guardian collapses, and permanently banned its responsible manager.
Having peaked at more than 40 per cent growth since the first M&A bid, Insignia Financial shares have returned to earth six months later as the company awaits a final decision from CC Capital.
