Falling margins dent hamper profit growth at Alpha Group

Fintech and consultancy group Alpha saw shares fall sharply on Wednesday despite the company saying it remains on track for the full year after a solid first half, as falling margins held back underlying profit growth.

Alpha, which already gave a detailed trading update in July over its first-half financial performance, reported 20% year-on-year growth in revenue to £55m, but underlying pre-tax profit increased by just 9% to £19.6m.

The company, which provides FX risk management services and payments solutions to corporates operating internationally, revealed that its underlying pre-tax profit margin fell to 35% from 39% for the 2022 financial year as a whole. Alpha said this was a result of increased investment in the cost base as well as subdued market conditions.

Meanwhile, higher UK corporation tax rates meant that underlying earnings per share actually decreased by 2% to 33p.

Nevertheless, Alpha raised its interim dividend by 9% to 3.7p per share.

The stock was down 5.7% at 2,000p by 0900 BST on Wednesday.

"Whilst we are mindful of macro headwinds, we have proven in H1 that we can grow strongly despite these, given the resilience and momentum within our business," the company said in its outlook statement.

"Moving into H2, macro headwinds are likely to remain, however as a result of the strategic diversification of our business, and our performance to date, we remain confident in delivering full-year results in line with our expectations."