MA Financial FY profit drops on acquisition, AUM jumps
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More news: Shares in MA Financial were down 4.53% to $10.75 by 11:54am AEDT following its full-year results.
During an investor call, MST Financial analyst Lafitani Sotiriou queried the fund manager on its flat dividend.
Joint CEO Julian Biggins said retaining capital growth was one of the company’s key considerations in how it funded future growth. Biggins noted that MA Financial declared a dividend of 20 cents per share and as its dividend neared that threshold the conversation at the board level became “more real” about what to do with its dividends.
“There's a balance between funding future growth, which we're very strong about, we have a very strong opinion about, but also balancing that with a moderate increase in dividends for shareholders to reward those people as well,” Biggins said.
“We've got good franking credits, and we generate good cash.”
When UBS analyst Fraser Noye asked about whether MA Financial would be able to hit its 40% EBITDA margin, Biggins said it was unlikely.
“This is one of the things that we grapple with is we're probably pretty good at growing the revenue line, but at that same time, we're investing in the in the business... We see our business continuing in scale, and with the scale of benefits you see that EBITDA margin keep expanding,” he said.
“It's hard for us to be definitive around whether it's three years, five years at this juncture, albeit we are calling out that obviously it's very unlikely at 31 December this year, that we'd hit the 40% margin, and we'd see the margin probably accreting a couple of points this year.
“But it is improving, and we are very focused on it… it's the one growth target that obviously we're missing on.”
MA Financial FY profit drops on acquisition, AUM jumps
The news: MA Financial announced a decrease in statutory net profit after tax and a rise in assets under management (AUM) for the year to 31 December 2025.
The numbers: MA Financial’s net profit after tax was $11.1 million, a 73% tumble from the previous year. The fund manager said the drop reflected an expense of $41 million for its IP Generation acquisition along with the establishment of MA Credit Income Fund.
AUM rose 49% to $15.3 billion, as it posted gross fund inflows of $4.1 billion, up 82% on FY24.
The fund manager’s asset management underlying revenue gained 25% to $382 million. This was driven by a 15% rise in asset management revenue due to private credit fund growth and real estate acquisitions such as Top Ryde City shopping centre and Hyperdome Town Square, a 59% jump in lending an technology revenue from growth in MA Money and Finsure, and a 23% increase in corporate advisory and equities revenue.
Underlying earnings per share rose 31% to 34.2 cents and the company said it expected this to rise in FY26 off the back of scaling MA Money and “all divisions continue to demonstrate positive earnings momentum”.
The company posted a final dividend of 14 cents per share, inline from the previous year.
What they said: MA Financial joint chief executives Julian Biggins and Christopher Wyke said: “Underlying EPS in FY26 is expected to be materially higher than FY25. We believe that the Group is in great shape and positioned to deliver strong earnings growth into the future”.
The source: ASX
