The ASX-listed investment group forecast a profit before tax of around $23.5 million for the first half, up from $22.6 million in the same period last year.
Bell Financial Group had managed a $15.9 profit after tax for the first half of 2019.
Looking ahead at the 2020 first-half result, the retail and wholesale equities divisions were said to have performed strongly, with a “significant contribution” from the equity capital markets segment.
Bell signalled that it plans to continue investing in its proprietary platforms, technology, products and services, after it saw profit surges for subsidiaries Bell Potter Capital and Third Party Platform.
Bell Potter Capital was reported to have a 120 per cent rise in its unaudited profit before tax for the half to $2.4 million, while the Third Party Platform saw a 140 per cent rise to $3.3 million.
Executive chairman Alastair Provan said: “At our AGM in April I said 2019 had been an outstanding year for the Bell Financial Group.”
“Given the circumstances that we all find ourselves in today, to be able to produce a [first-half] result that has us tracking better than the previous corresponding period is, I think, extraordinary.”
The group is set to publish its half-yearly result next month.
