AJ Bell PLC (LSE:AJB), one of the UK's largest investment platforms, saw its revenue rise by 27% year-on-year to £131.3 million in the first half of the financial year.
The platform has steadily increased its share of the investing platform market, having passed the half-a-million customers mark in April.
Profit before tax surged by 47% to £61.4 million, reflecting an improved pre-tax margin of 46.8%.
Assets under administration increased by 13% to £85.8 billion, supported by net inflows of £2.9 billion and favourable market movements of £6.5 billion.
Chief executive Michael Summersgill said: "I am pleased to announce an excellent set of first-half results.
“Our dual-channel platform continued to deliver strong organic growth with 27,000 customers added in the period and total platform customers surpassing half a million, a significant milestone for the business."
AJ Bell announced a 21% interim dividend increase to 4.25p per share while unveiling a review of its capital-allocation policy toward a “progressive” approach to distributing funds.
“Surplus capital that is not required to fund either organic investment in the business or potential inorganic investment opportunities to support our strategy will be returned to shareholders as additional capital returns, over and above ordinary dividends," investors were told.
“Such distributions are expected to be made via share buybacks or special dividends, with the precise mechanism to be determined on a case-by-case basis,” said the group."
Management struck an optimistic tone of the market, stating: “The macroeconomic environment improved during the period, with UK inflation levels falling and global asset values increasing.
“These trends, alongside the anticipated future reductions to the Bank of England's base rate, are likely to increase the appetite for investing.”