Australia's third-biggest dealer group, Count Financial, posted a dip in annual net profit, after earnings growth slowed in some of its key businesses.
The group's net profit after tax fell 6 per cent to $21.3 million for the 12 months to June, Count chief executive Marianne Perkovic said in a presentation in Sydney yesterday.
Earnings from the company's mortgage lending business rose 7 per cent to $17.34 million, signalling the weakest growth since 2005.
There was "turmoil as banks reduced commissions to brokers," Perkovic said.
However, fees gathered from platforms jumped, with a 23 per cent rise in asset-based income to $31.57 million.
The surge came despite a 6.6 per cent drop in Count's funds under administration (FUA) in its preferred platforms to $6.92 billion.
However, Count's preferred platforms including BT's Platform2 wrap, Colonial First State's FirstChoice, Perpetual's WealthFocus and Skandia's One had shown strong FUA growth which boosted asset-based income, Perkovic said.
Perkovic said Count was progressing to list its acquisition arm Countplus through an aggressive buyout strategy.
Countplus will list when its earnings reached $25 million, she said.
