Begbies Traynor said it was confident about the financial year with insolvencies expected to rise after the government’s withdrawal of pandemic support.
Adjusted pretax profit rose to £8m in the six months to the end of October from £5m a year earlier as revenue increased to £52.3m from £37.5m. The interim dividend rose to 1.1p a share from 1p.
The insolvency specialist predicted annual results would be in line with market expectations for pretax profit of £17m-£18.5m.
The company said business failures had increased over the past six months as the government had withdrawn business support measures. Most of the increase has been among small companies with large administrations rising but much lower than before the crisis.
Ric Traynor, the company’s executive chairman, said: “The group’s strong financial performance in the first six months leaves the board confident of delivering market expectations* for the full year, which will represent a year of significant growth.
“National insolvency numbers have increased over the period as the government’s pandemic support measures have been removed. As previously guided, we expect our results will have a second-half weighting, as we anticipate insolvency activity will continue to increase over the remainder of our financial year.”
Begbies Traynor shares rose 0.8% to 134.3p at 09:15 BST.
