Lighthouse shines as profits rise
THE group which owns Stockport-based financial adviser LighthouseCarrwood has reported a rise in earnings and revenue.
The London-based Lighthouse Group saw revenue lift 4% to £63.1m in the year to December 31 while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew by 22% to £1.3m. Pre-tax profits were up 38% to £129,000.
Lighthouse bought Carrwood Financial Planning for £2.7m in 2005. It now forms part of the group’s specialist services division along with Lighthouse Group Employee Benefits.
These business offer independent advice to the accountancy market, high net worth individuals and corporates. “This segment produces good margins, has a healthy bias towards fees and recurring revenues and is well placed to benefit from the government’s auto enrolment initiative,” said the company.
In October Lighthouse sold pension interests which it had aquired as part of the Carrwood deal. The disposal of City Trustees and City Pensions raised £2.14m.
Chairman David Hickey said: “The board is pleased with the group’s strong performance during the year. In particular, we have improved profitability and added to our already significant cash resources. During the period we have also focused on improving the quality of earnings by further increasing recurring revenues.
“We are pursuing both organic growth through developing our affinity relationships, as well as continuing to assess acquisition opportunities. The board is satisfied that the group remains operationally well positioned and financially robust.”
