Financial Planning group Tavistock has seen an improvement in trading after last month reporting a loss of nearly £1m.

The company said in a trading update today that the group’s trading in the first five months of the current financial year to 31 March 2024 was, “significantly ahead of the equivalent period in the previous financial year.”

Unaudited management accounts show that for the five months to 31 August 2023 gross revenues rose by 19% to £17.2m (prior year equivalent period: £14.5m). EBITDA, a measure of profit, rose “thirteenfold” to £1.6 million (prior year equivalent period: EBITDA loss £0.14 million).

The company also revealed today it had completed its review of all British Steel Defined Benefit Pension Transfer cases with “minimal uninsured cost being incurred.”

It did not disclose the cost of rectifying any BSPS cases.

In April the company acquired Precise Protect, a UK-wide protection business based in Bangor, Northern Ireland, and says it believes the firm will be a major contributor to the future profitability of the group and has been integrated into the business.

Following the transaction, Tavistock says it has a network of over 400 advisers and other business introducers working with more than 110,000 UK retail clients with total assets estimated to be over £6 billion, as well as 350 corporate and affinity clients with some 16,000 employees.  

The board has declared an interim dividend of 0.07 pence gross per ordinary share. 

Brian Raven, Tavistock’s chief executive, said: “The board’s focus continues to be on optimising the operating structure of the group and delivering value to shareholders through continued growth. We remain ambitious and acquisitive and look forward to updating shareholders on progress in due course.”

In September Tavistock reported a loss of £0.94m in the year to March. Last year the group gained a windfall profit of £30.67m after the sale of its investment arm Tavistock Wealth to Titan Wealth in August 2021 for an initial sum of £20m.

The majority of revenues for the latest year, ended 31 March 2023, were generated by Tavistock’s advisory business, which produced 96% of gross revenues.