Mortgage Advice Bureau reported higher full-year sales and profits, adding that home loan applications jumped 15% in the final three months of 2024 compared to a year ago.
The broker network says revenue lifted 11% to around £266m for the year to the end of December in a trading update.
The business points out that this compares to estimates of 4% growth across the UK gross lending market over 2024.
It expects to post adjusted full-year pre-tax profit 31% higher than last year at £30.5m.
The firm says there were “clear signs of pent-up demand” among borrowers in the fourth quarter as mortgage applications lifted 15% from a year ago, adding, “we expect this positive momentum to be maintained”.
It points to UK Finance market forecasts, which say that gross new lending will rise 11% in 2025 in £235bn, “which we believe is a realistic estimate”.
The network’s mainstream advisers “grew modestly” in the second half of the year lifting 1.2% to 1,941 by the end of 2024.
But it adds brokers were more productive, with the average revenue per mainstream adviser growing by around 12% to £138,000 last year.
Mortgage Advice Bureau chief executive Peter Brodnicki says: “We expect purchase transactions to steadily increase over the next year, whilst several years of strong refinancing transactions will provide additional opportunities for growth.
“We are seeing increased optimism among many of our appointed representatives, and as a result, expect to see organic growth in adviser numbers start to return in a more meaningful way.
“Following a slower period in terms of new appointed representative recruitment, we plan to onboard more firms this year while continuing to explore value-accretive acquisitions.”
The firm adds that chief risk officer Paul Gill will join its board as an executive director, subject to regulatory approval.
The business will release its final results on 18 March.
