Despite a 31.5 per cent decline in the firm’s statutory underlying net profit after tax (NPAT), to $265 million, AMP’s chief executive said 2023 was a year of progress for the firm.
In its full-year 2023 financial update filed to the ASX on Wednesday, AMP said it recorded NPAT growth of 6.5 per cent to $196 million in 2023, following a one-off cost of $99 million to settle the Buyer of Last Resort (BOLR) class action in the second half.
The firm’s revenue edged up 3 per cent to $1.31 billion, while EBIT lost 0.4 per cent to $244 million.
AMP Bank’s underlying NPAT dropped from $103 million to $93 million, while its platforms business saw growth of $25 million to $90 million, reflecting positive North Guarantee movement from favourable market conditions.
The firm’s advice business continued to rack up losses in 2023, despite the firm’s focus on stemming the bleed.
Namely, AMP’s advice segment saw NPAT loss of $47 million, an improvement of 30.9 per cent on 2022 – a result the firm views as “continued progress” in establishing advice as a “sustainable, standalone business”.
Commenting on AMP’s 2023 results, AMP chief executive officer Alexis George said: “We have repositioned the portfolio with the completion of the AMP Capital sales, built momentum in our cost-out program, and resolved a number of significant legacy legal matters.
“In addition, we have continued to reduce net debt, implemented further business simplification initiatives, invested in sustainable growth and returned surplus capital to shareholders.”
On the advice front, AMP said it is “starting to attract new practices to the network” and noted that the “quality” of its adviser network “remained strong” with average revenue per advice practice above the industry average of $1.75 million.
The firm also noted that sentiment towards it continued to improve with adviser satisfaction scores at 81 per cent, up from 68 per cent in 2022.
Last year, AMP settled the BOLR class action.
Following the settlement, Matt Lawler, AMP group executive, advice, expressed a sense of relief and optimism for redemption in the future.
“Over the last two years, we’ve worked really hard to improve the services to advisers and work with advisers on the services they value, and we’re getting great feedback from advisers more broadly,” Mr Lawler said.
“But we always had this looming issue around BOLR, which was a historical issue, it was before my time back in 2019, but we had to deal with it. We’re really pleased that the outcome we got yesterday was that there is an agreement to move forward.”
With this announcement, AMP made its intention clear: to improve its relationship with advisers.
‘Clear strategy’ for period ahead
Ms George said AMP now has a “clear strategy” focused on three areas.
“The first is to drive the profitability of our businesses, AMP Bank, master trust, advice, platforms and New Zealand. The simplification program and investment we’ve undertaken across the portfolio is delivering positive outcomes for our customers and provides a foundation for sustainable growth,” she said.
The second is “efficient cost and capital management”, while the third includes building its capabilities across the wealth value chain and large customer base to create new sources of revenue and lasting points of differentiation with customers.
