Broker’s EBITDAE up 21% to £9.8m

Broking group Jelf made an after-tax profit of £883,00 for the year to 30 September 2010, a stark improvement from the £9.8m loss it made in the previous financial year.

Overall revenues were flat at £70.4m compared with £70.3m, and cost of sales increased to £7.4m from £4.8m. However, Jelf slashed administrative expenses by 20% or £15m to £59.8m from £75.2m. This resulted in an operating profit of £3.1m versus an operating loss of £9.7m.

Jelf also cut its debt to £7.3m from £30.7m.

“As a result of our focus on our clients we have managed to produce a good performance despite difficult trading and the wider economic conditions,” Jelf chief executive Alex Alway said in a statement. “We have now completed the integration of all our previous acquisitions and are focused on generating increased value from the three core business areas. We remain cautious about the economic outlook and believe that 2011 will be a challenging year for our clients.”

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional costs (EBITDAE), which Jelf views as one of its key performance indicators, increased 21% to £9.8m in 2010 from £8.1m in 2009. EBITDAE margin was also up 21% to 14% from 11%.

Revenues from Jelf’s insurance business dropped slightly to £42.9m in 2010 from £43.7m in 2009. Insurance EBITDAE fell to £4.3m from £5.2m and EBITDAE margin dipped to 10% from 12%.

However Jelf’s employee benefits business, which accounts for 27% of total income, and financial planning business, which accounts for 12%, both posted growth in revenue and EBITDAE.