Investment platform AJ Bell dismisses Brexit concerns in maiden results

Investment platform AJ Bell dismissed Brexit concerns as it posted soaring revenue and profits in its maiden results as a public company.

Chief executive Andy Bell, who founded the business in 1995, said he was “bored” of updates that blamed Brexit uncertainty for poor results, as the business reported a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to £50.1m.

Read more: Investment platform AJ Bell set to beat market expectations

Meanwhile, profit before tax was up 27 per cent to £17.7m in the six months to 31 March.

“Strong is a fair description [of the results]”, Bell said. “The most important thing was that we didn’t disappoint with our first set of PLC results.”

“I felt like we had a good, strong set of results. I’ve got bored of sets of results where they open with Brexit and the market as if it’s an excuse for what’s to follow.”

“We have a robust business model,” Bell said, adding that the firm “will never be immune from all shocks”.

The Manchester-based company also saw retail customers grow to 214,813, a boost of nine per cent, and assets under management increased three per cent to £47.7bn.

Read more: AJ Bell warns of drop in assets in first market update since IPO

Shares slumped more than four per cent after the results were published, however the company’s stock price has seen a 170 per cent increase since the firm’s initial public offering in December last year.

“The market is the market…I can’t – and I don’t try to – manage the stock price, but the market does what the market does. We have outperformed against what the market expected,” Bell added.