Mortgage Choice posts record settlements, 10% profit growth

By James Mitchell

24 August 2017

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The listed brokerage recorded its best ever settlement result this week, with home loan settlements totalling $12.3 billion for the 2017 financial year.

Mortgage Choice posted a $22.6 million profit this week, up by 10.2 per cent on FY16. The group's loan book reached a record $53.4 billion, up by 3.2 per cent.

Chief executive John Flavell said that FY17 was a year that saw increased complexity across all areas of retail financial services.

“The volume and velocity of policy and pricing changes for lending products, as well as wealth and insurance solutions, was unprecedented. This complexity drove more consumers to Mortgage Choice than ever before,” the CEO said.

“Mortgage Choice delivered increased value to our customers by addressing more of their financial needs and creating simplicity in a complex environment."

Mr Flavell noted that the company’s diversified services also performed strongly over the year, highlighting the 11.5 per cent revenue derived from outside residential lending.

“Our financial planning division delivered its first full-year profit, with Funds Under Advice and Premiums In Force rising [by] 60.3 per cent and 26.0 per cent, respectively, to $532.4 million and $24.2 million.

“As this business matures and our advisers spend more time building relationships with our network of mortgage brokers, referrals naturally grow. Throughout FY17, the number of referrals from the core broking business increased by 13 per cent.”

Asset finance in high demand

In July, Mortgage Choice launched a new branded asset finance offering. More than 1,600 vehicle, plant and equipment loans have been financed.

“As we move into FY18, our asset finance offering will continue to gather momentum and deliver growth for the company,” Mr Flavell said.

Meanwhile, Mortgage Choice recruited 46 new Greenfield Franchises over the year, and the number of credit representatives across the country increased to 654, the highest number of Mortgage Choice brokers since before the GFC.

Mr Flavell said: “As these new recruits become more skilled and increase their productivity over the coming months and years, we will see continued growth in the business.”