AET sale bolsters indifferent Insignia Financial half

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

23 February 2023

The sale of Australian Executor Trustees helped lift Insignia Financial to a satisfactory first half, with net profit after tax up 67.1% to $45.1 million.

However, underlying net profit after tax, which excluded discontinued operations, was down 17.1% to $94.4 million.

The directors declared an interim dividend of 10.5 cents per share, representing a 70% pay-out ratio with dividend being franked at 50%.

Pleasingly for Insignia, its underlying profit after tax within the financial advice business was up 22.6% to $6.4 million which the company said was driven by synergy and simplification cost savings of $16.7 million.

However, it acknowledged that this was partly offset by a 9.2% net revenue decrease of $10.5 million mainly driven by the reshape in the company’s service offering following the Bridges integration with MLC Advice.

Specifically commenting on advice, Insignia chief executive, Renato Mota said delivering an accessible, sustainable advice offering across the advice spectrum represented a key priority.

“We believe technology and innovation will help drive personalisation and the ability to deliver advice across various digital channels,” he said.

Within the Insignia platforms business, underlying net profit after tax declined by 16.4% to $118.3 million driven by a net revenue decrease of $47.5 million as a result of lower average funds under advice (FUA) due to market declines and repricing.

Mota pointed to the company simplifying and enhancing its platform suite, and noted that following a full market review of Master Trust software solutions it expected a two-platform ecosystem.