International savings provider Hansard has reported profit before tax of £3.1m ($3.7m, €3.5m) for the six months ending 31 December 2022 (H1 2023).
This is up from £1.9m in H1 2022.
But the firms’ fees and commissions came in at £22.9m for H1 2023, compared to £25.2m for H1 2022. Hansard said that this reflected lower levels of new business in the current financial year.
Assets under administration were £1.1bn as at 31 December 2022, largely unchanged from £1.09bn as at 30 June 2022.
In the firm’s London Stock Exchange announcement on 9 March, Hansard said it will “continue to progress the launch of a new proposition in the Middle East to assist growing our business in that market and to develop distribution opportunities for our Japanese proposition”.
“We expect sales of long-term savings products through independent financial advisers to continue to be impacted by global economic headwinds. Looking forward, however, we are confident that our new product pipeline will lead to increased sales and long-term growth in the business.”
Graham Sheward, group chief executive of Hansard, said: “While the overall environment has remained challenging for investment and long-term savings plans, it was pleasing to deliver a much-improved profit result compared to the comparable prior year period.
“We continue to make good progress with our strategic initiatives which are targeted to deliver future new business growth and cost efficiencies.”
