Alpha Group International plc, a provider of financial solutions to corporates and institutions, today provided a trading update for FY 2023.

Revenue increased 12% to £110 million (FY 2022: £98.3m).

Profit before tax was up over 140% to c. £115 million (FY 2022: £47.2m), whereas underlying profit before tax grew 10% to c. £42 million (FY 2022: £38.6m).

Other operating income from interest on client balances was over £73 million (FY 2022: £9.3m).

The process to acquire Cobase began in September 2023 and was completed in December 2023. Despite the fact that the acquisition process can be fairly disruptive, Cobase grew revenues by c. 67% to €2 million in FY 2023, with all revenues derived through SaaS subscription fees. In addition, the client base has increased by c. 67% during the year, to end 2023 with over 130 clients.

Morgan Tillbrook, CEO, commented:

“Despite a challenging trading environment in 2023, our team have continued to work hard to deliver profitable revenue growth, whilst also making excellent progress on our long-term growth strategy. At the same time, our previous diversification into Alternative Banking has enabled us to benefit from exceptional levels of interest income. Whilst we have opted to exclude these numbers from our underlying profit for transparency, the fact remains that this is very much a by-product of our diversified business model and is providing us with transformative levels of capital from which we can significantly enhance our long-term growth prospects. We have already started to show this in 2023 with the acquisition of Cobase, the launch of our new Fund Finance division, and new offices in Spain and Germany.

The higher interest rate environment has created economic headwinds which have impacted our underlying revenue momentum. However, the additional operating income of over £73m that we have generated as a result of this same environment has more than compensated for this, and highlights the resilience of our diversified business model. In simple terms, 2023 showed that in a higher interest rate environment, underlying growth becomes more challenging, but the cash and statutory profit from interest income becomes exceptional – a trade-off that, in reality, creates significant opportunities for Alpha’s long-term growth prospects.