Bell Financial forecasts 65% jump in H1 earnings
Bell Financial Group said it expects a 65 per cent rise in pre-tax earnings to $14 million after the diversified financial services business had a good first half across all divisions.
Over the half, group revenue grew 14 per cent to $101 million, while overheads rose less than 2 per cent, which the firm said clearly demonstrated the market leverage in its business model.
Bell Financial said business conditions remained “encouraging” and the firm had a strong Equity Capital Markets pipeline in place for the second half of the year.
However, the firm reiterated that it had a particularly strong second half last year.
The firm also said it now owned 100 per cent of Third Party Platform Limited (TPP), which combined with Bell’s proprietary platform FUSION, would increase the firm’s competitive advantage across its entire client base, from self-directed private investors to institutions.
Bell Financial said it had also appointed TPP chief executive Arnie Selvarajah to its board.
The firm also said it was well progressed in its US licence application, having received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and having submitted its Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) membership agreement.
“We already have staff and premises in place in New York and will be fully operational once our membership agreement has been accepted,” the firm told the Australian Securities Exchange.
“We are confident that New York will add a new dimension to our service and distribution capability.”
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.