Countplus NPAT down 3%
Countplus has reported that adjusted net profit after tax for FY21 down 3% to $7.444 million due the cessation of grandfathered rebate revenue.
The company said in an announcement made to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that 2021 financial year’s headwinds affected many aspects of its business.
This included the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on core clients across the small business sector, regulatory reform impacting financial advice and fundamentally changing the way advisers operated and, finally, the firm experienced the economic impact of the transition to its “clean” user pays model without grandfathered rebate revenue.
At the same time, revenue from operating activities stood at $80,521 million, compared to $82,607 million a year before, while corporate overheads increased to $7.195 million in FY2021 against $6.388 million a year before.
Following this, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at $11.946 million and was down 4% compared to a year before.
The board announced it would pay a 1.50% share fully franked dividend for the year, which represented a 20% increase in dividend payment on the previous period in FY2020.
Chief executive and managing director, Matthew Rowe, said a solid EBITA result of $11.946 million and NPAT of $7.444 million was achieved despite a complex operating environment.
“Our strategic growth focus was maintained with nine tuck-in acquisitions made and seven transactions within the owner, driver-partner (OD-P) model. The acquisition of complementary paraplanning and administration business, Wealth Axis, was also executed during the period and we have seen an increase in annual recurring revenue of 40% in this business since June,” he said.
Count Financial would now operate wholly as a fee-based, user-pays licensee supported by a leading, client-centric value proposition.
“This new ‘clean’ model is resonating with those financial advisers that have stayed the course with us as well as those looking to join Count Financial. We are not subsidised through product distribution as our ‘product’ is financial advice,” Rowe said.
Count Financial onboarded 57 new financial advisers during the year to June 30, 2021.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
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