The Trust Company (Trust) has cited operating expenses from ongoing business transformation and settlement of a client claim as contributing factors for a 36 per cent fall in net profit after tax (NPAT) for the six months ended 31 August.
The listed company's NPAT now stands at to $4.1 million, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period dipped 20 per cent to $6.6 million.
Operating revenue for the period was up 4 per cent to $41.8 million but expenses also increased 11 per cent due to redundancy costs, separation costs in New Zealand, continued investment in system upgrades and a resolved client claim.
Despite the decline in results for the first half, Trust has a positive outlook for the business going forward.
"I recognise that the decrease in our dividends will be disappointing for shareholders, however I'm confident we are making progress in the transformation of the business," Trust chief executive officer John Atkin said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
For the second half of the 2013 financial year, Trust plans to continue to drive revenue growth and assess profitability of its personal clients business, the company said in the statement.
"Personal clients in Australia has the underlying momentum and should improve in the second half," it said.
"Disappointingly, our current assessment of the level of recovery of certain corporate client transactional fees in the second half will be lower than previously anticipated."
As a result, at current market levels, group operating EBITDA for the second half is expected to be in line with EBITDA in the first half.
"Our operating environment continues to be challenging however the fundamentals of our business remain strong," Atkin said.
"We remain committed to implementing our strategy and delivering sustainable growth in earnings to our shareholders," he said.
