Insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor has notched up 10 years of growth in a row as profits nearly doubled amid a surge in larger scale company failures.
The group said it was seeing trading in its business recovery and advisory division – which accounts for 55% of group revenues – boosted by larger and higher value insolvencies.
This helped the firm’s business recovery arm deliver a 5% rise in revenues to £83.7 million over the year to April 30 despite a slight fall in the number of corporate insolvencies more widely across the UK.
Official figures showed there were 23,969 corporate insolvency appointments in the year to April 30, down from 25,408 the previous year.
The total number of administrations – typically involving larger and more complex instructions – also edged lower in the year to 1,549 from 1,663 previously.
But Begbies said its insolvency order book had increased to £78.6 million from £71.9 million a year ago.
It saw annual pre-tax profits almost double to £11.5 million from £5.8 million the year before as revenues jumped 12% to £153.7 million.
Begbies added that revenues over the new financial year are forecast at the upper end of expectations, which will help offset rising costs and higher wage bills from April’s national insurance contribution tax hike.
It said profits for the year ahead remain on track with expectations.
Executive chairman Ric Traynor said: “We have started the new year with encouraging activity levels and positive momentum across the group.
“We anticipate continuing growth in the new financial year, driven by the increase in scale of our teams, including the recruitment of senior fee earners, together with the visibility of fees on current instructions, larger and higher value cases, and supportive market conditions.
“We currently expect revenue will be at the upper end of the range of market expectations, mitigating increasing costs… and resulting in a further year of profit growth in line with expectations as we continue to invest in growing the business.”
