Revenue growth delivers ‘best ever’ interim financial result for MOC

February 18, 2016

Mortgage Choice Limited (MOC) has today announced its financial results for the six months ending 31 December 2015. 

Today's results highlight the ongoing strength of the company, with group revenue, franchisee revenue, Net Profit After Tax (NPAT), loan settlements, loan book and financial planning revenue all growing to record levels for the first half.

Financial highlights for the six months to 31 December 2015

• IFRS total group revenue grew to $102.3 million, up 5.4% on 1H15.
• Franchisee revenue grew 8.6% from 1H15 to 1H16.
• NPAT on a cash basis was $10.1 million, up 12.4% from $9.0 million in 1H15.
• $6.2 billion in home loans were settled in 1H16, up 8.5% from $5.7 billion in 1H15. 
• Total loan book surpassed the $50 billion milestone and hit $50.7 billion, up 4.7% from 1H15.
• Financial Planning net revenue grew 63% from 1H15 to 1H16.
• Earnings per share at 8.6 cents compared to 8.0 cents in 1H15.
• A fully franked interim dividend of 8.0 cents per share was declared by the Board, up from 7.5 cents in 1H15.

Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said the strong results were in line with the highly aggressive performance hurdles the business had set for itself.

“We have recorded our strongest ever interim profit result, which is a testament to the Mortgage Choice business as a whole, as well as the strength of our plans and our ability to execute those plans,” he said.

“Our strong profit growth of 12.4% has come from significantly growing our revenue and controlling our operating expenses whilst continuing to invest for future growth.

“Since addressing Help Me Choose, we have been able to dedicate more resources to those parts of the business that align with our 2020 strategy.

“Amidst an ever changing and increasingly complex housing market, the strength of our proposition has stood out. For the first time ever, the Group recorded more than $6 billion in mortgage settlements for a half year. Furthermore, we managed to grow our market share over the December quarter despite the fact that the housing finance market also grew at a significant pace.

“Looking at our diversified businesses, our cash result for Financial Planning has improved by 22% compared to the first half of last year. This result delivers on the target we set for ourselves and I remain confident that this business will start to be profitable on a monthly basis by financial year's end.

“We have seen a significant increase in both the number of referrals going to our financial advisers as well as the number of brokers referring business. Growth in financial planning referrals has been and will continue to be a key focus for us and I believe we will continue to see significant growth in this area.

“At Mortgage Choice, we are determined to help our customers with all of their financial needs.”

Mr Flavell said that while he was pleased with the Group's performance over the first half of the financial year, plans are currently in place to help the company step up even further in the back half of the year and into 2017.

“We have already seen an incredibly strong start to the 2016 calendar year. In the first weeks of January, the Group received a record number of home loan enquiries, which are already converting into very strong loan application and settlement results. The executive group will maintain the drive and focus that helped deliver our strong results in 1H16 and we look forward to addressing the market again at financial year's end.”