Lighthouse Group grows profits more than a third in first half

Lighthouse Group shined a light on its pre-tax profits on Monday as the financial advice firm announced it grew profits 36% in its first half of trading.

Revenues in the sixth months ended 30 June increased 8% to £25.67m thanks to higher income from Lighthouse's affinity partnerships and an increased demand in the pension advice realm, which helped bring those pre-tax profits from £829,000 in 2016 to £1.13m twelve months later.

Operating expenses fell 6% to £5.73m as part of the group's "on-going focus on improving operational cost and efficiency."

Richard Last, chairman of Lighthouse said, "The unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2017 emphasise the further progression of the group's activities and the focus on sustainable operational efficiency, with EBITDA for the six months increasing by 26% to £1.27m."

New contracts signed in the half with the likes of Money Advice Service and the Social Workers Union, plus renewals with Udsaw and Prospect trades unions helped keep the company debt free and walk away from the period with £8.1m in cash and equivalents.

Luceo, the group's asset management business, grew in the six months leading up to 30 June, increasing its assets under management to £20m from £5m when it launched in Septemer 2016.

With an increased level of investment into its actively managed fund, Lighthouse looks to diversify further with a new product for the Luceo range expected to be announced in the "near future".

Earnings per share were up 30% from 0.65p to 0.88p.

As of 1530 BST, shares had dropped 4.21% to 18.20p.