Countplus has no ambitions to become a second tier firm, with the Count Financial subsidiary set to focus on organic growth rather than third party acquisitions, the company’s chief executive has said.
Michael Spurr told InvestorDaily acquisitions for the group, at a member level, are not the key expansion areas in 2012.
“Acquisition is not the core growth engine for us – organic growth is the key driver,” Spurr said.
“We’re very conscious of the fact that we don’t want to do more acquisitions that we can handle. We only want to do acquisitions of businesses that we think can generate decent organic growth and we need to have the capacity to bed those acquisitions in as well.”
If Countplus or any of its member firms were to make acquisitions, those acquisitions would “supplement the [group’s] organic growth”, he said.
“We’ve got no targets on size. We’ve got no ambitions to be a second tier firm, we just want to be a good business,” he said.
Earlier this month, Countplus announced it had entered into a share sale and purchase agreement with Melbourne-based member firm, Kidmans PEC.
Spurr’s comments come as Countplus reported an operating profit of $10.51 million for the half year ending 31 December 2011.
The figure represents an 11.4 per cent increase over the prior period in which the company reported operating profit of $9.43 million, the report found.
Despite difficult market conditions, net income from Countplus’ member firms was up 8 per cent to $10.62 million from $9.83 million in the previous corresponding period.
The company’s accounting revenue increased by 5.4 per cent, with its financial services/planning revenue up 42.0 per cent due to the company’s 2010 acquisition of dealer group, Total Financial Solutions.
“The fact that the firms have been able to generate some organic growth during the period in both main revenue lines accounting and financial services is positive,” Spurr said.
“Our firms have very good relationships with their clients, they’re not losing clients, but certainly the tough conditions have made it difficult to grow as quickly as you would during better economic times.”
He said Countplus is working with member firms that are experiencing tough periods.
“It’s business as usual. The firms are going through a tougher period and so they are working through that.
“They continue to identify other acquisition opportunities that work for them,” he added.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia made its $373 million takeover offer for Count Financial in August last year.
