Mortgage aggregator and financial services provider Firstfolio has seen its profits increase after cost savings and synergies from acquisitions started to flow through, the company said.
Firstfolio reported a net profit of $2.2 million for the six months to 31 December 2009, compared to $0.5 million for the same period in 2008.
"Cost synergies, economies of scale and technology benefits realised from our 2008 acquisitions of online B2C mortgage platform eChoice and mortgage manager Domain Financial Services are evident in the first-half result," Firstfolio chief executive Mark Forsyth said.
"Having turned the business around we are now accelerating growth across multiple fronts, based on a strategy of building distribution and leveraging scale in mortgages and financial services," he said.
Firstfolio reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $4.45 million, compared to $1.1 million last year.
The company reaffirmed its full-year EBITDA guidance, saying the Australian economy and the housing market has started to improve.
"We are well on track to hit the upper end of full-year guidance of underlying EBITDA in the range $10-11 million," Forsyth said.
During the half, Firstfolio took over the mortgage assets from First Chartered Capital and Loan Services Australia, which increased the company's loan book to $18 billion.
"The cost synergy benefits of these acquisitions will flow through early in financial year 2011," Forsyth said.
It also completed the acquisition of the $3.5 billion mortgage loan portfolio and 40 franchised shopfronts of mortgage manager and aggregator First Chartered Capital, and the $2 billion mortgage managed loan book of Loan Services Australia.
Firstfolio recently made an off-market takeover bid for Xplore Capital of $3 million and sent out a bidders statement on 11 February.
