Platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell increased its platform customer numbers by 9% to 593,000 over the past six months, the business reported today in interim results.

In a strong set of figures, revenue was up over the last six month by 17% to £153.2 million (HY24: £131.3 million) and pre-tax profit rose 12% to £68.8 million (HY24: £61.4 million).

Platform Assets Under Administration were up 5% over the period to a record £90.4 billion. The increase was driven by net inflows of £3.3 billion (HY24: £2.9 billion) and favourable market movements of £0.6 billion (HY24: £6.5 billion), the company said.

The AJ Bell Investments arm saw AUM up 10% in the period to close at £7.5bn. AJ Bell Investments also saw strong net inflows in the period of £0.7bn (HY24: £0.8bn).

The company said that it was confident in the outlook after a strong set of figures and would accelerate business investment in the second half of the year to drive long-term growth. 

Michael Summersgill, AJ Bell CEO, said: “I am pleased to report another strong set of first half results. Our dual-channel platform continued to deliver organic growth, adding over 50,000 customers in the period and net inflows of £3.3 billion, resulting in AUA surpassing £90 billion for the first time.

“The increase in customers and AUA delivered strong financial performance, with revenue up 17% to £153.2 million and profit before tax up 12% to £68.8 million. Our strong financial position has enabled us to continue investing in the business, whilst also returning £64.0 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks since the year end.

“We have repeatedly broken our own records for new customer applications during the recent tax year end, seamlessly adding thousands of new customers attracted to the AJ Bell brand and our simple, low-cost products.

“Looking ahead, there is the potential for policy developments to present further market growth opportunities. In particular, a customer-centred approach to ISA simplification could remove the barriers that currently exist between saving and long-term investing in the ISA system. Such a change to ISAs would be supercharged by Targeted Support, which would allow firms to provide personalised guidance, increasing the number of customers who feel confident to invest for the first time.”