AJ Bell (AJB) H2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Platform customers increased by 102,000 to 644,000, a 19% year-over-year rise, with platform AUA surpassing £100bn, reflecting record performance and continued investment in brand and propositions.

• Revenue grew 18% to £317.8m, and profit before tax rose 22% to £137.8m, with a margin of 43.4%, supported by a strong, diversified revenue model and scalable operations.

• Over £100m of capital returned to shareholders since the start of FY25, through dividends and share buybacks, underpinned by robust cash generation.

• Multi-year growth has doubled business size over five years, driven by organic growth, market share gains, and operational scalability.

Financial highlights

• Recurring ad valorem and transactional revenues drove the 18% revenue growth, with transactional revenue up 50% and D2C platform revenue up 28%.

• Profit before tax margin improved to 43.4%, and diluted EPS increased 26% to 25.56p.

• Total costs rose 15% to £185.9m, with staff costs up 20% due to headcount growth and higher performance-related pay.

• Cost to serve per £ AUA reduced to 15bps, and £2.9m in annualized cost savings achieved.

• 83% of revenues are recurring, supporting sustainable profitability.

Outlook and guidance

• Revenue margins expected to moderate in FY26 due to lower FX activity and reduced cash balances as a percentage of AUA; advised platform margin ~22.5bps, D2C platform ~43.5bps.

• Non-platform business revenue of £12.7m will not recur in FY26, and costs are projected to rise by 16%, split between investment and business-as-usual.

• Distribution costs expected to grow 28-30%, technology costs 20-22%, and operational/support costs 7-9% in FY26.

• Profit before tax margin expected to decrease to 39–40% in FY26, reflecting increased investment.

• Exceptional profit of around £21m anticipated from the disposal of the Platinum SIPP and SSAS business.