Mortgage Brain still has acquisitions on its mind
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Mortgage Brain says its unsuccessful attempt to buy TrigoldCrystal earlier in the year has not dampened its plans to acquire other firms.
It had to abandon its bid to acquire the rival sourcing system in May after the Office of Fair Trading referred the deal to the Competition Commission. This would have made the deal too costly for Mortgage Brain to pursue.
Mark Lofthouse, chief executive officer of Mortgage Brain, says: “We were disappointed with the TrigoldCrystal decision but we still have plans to grow the company, both organically and through acquisitions.”
He would not confirm whether it is in talks with anyone at present.
Last week Mortgage Strategy revealed that Mortgage Brain lost £418,000 as a result of terminating its TrigoldCrystal merger plan.
The deal was scuppered by the OFT over concerns that it would make Mortgage Brain too dominant.
The accounts of MBL Holdings, the parent of Mortgage Brain, show that as a result the company made a loss of £442,000, compared with a profit of £305,232 the previous year.
However, the accounts include two one-off costs the £418,000 from the failed merger and £419,520 relating to costs from share options offered to employees and directors. Had it not been for these charges MBL Holdings would have made a profit of £395,520.
The accounts also show that the company increased its turnover by 4% to £6.1m in the year ending March 31 2011. Cash balances rose by £76,000 to £2.9m.
Lofthouse adds: “To achieve an increase in revenue of 4% in a declining market is excellent. If the two one-off charges are not taken into account we would have made a reasonable profit.”
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