Lighthouse shines with rise in profits and revenues

PROFITS and revenues shone brighter at Lighthouse yesterday as the Aim-listed network of financial advisers heralded the turnaround in equity markets for giving a boost to its 2009 figures.

Revenue rose by 12 per cent to 60.7 million, while pre-tax profits hit 17.3m, compared with 15.4m in 2008.

Lighthouse – which owns Dunfermline-based Financial Services Advice and Support (FSAS) – failed to recommend a final dividend, having already declared two interim dividends of 0.2p each, doubling last year's total.

Executive chairman David Hickey hailed the "successful integration" of Godfrey Pearson, the rival financial advice business that Lighthouse bought in January 2009.

Hickey said: "The board is pleased with the group's strong performance during the year, against a challenging economic backdrop. We have improved profitability and added to our already significant cash resources.

"We are pursuing both organic growth through developing our affinity relationships, as well as continuing to assess acquisition opportunities."

FSAS, which was founded in 2001, was bought by Sumus in 2006, which in turn merged with Lighthouse in 2008. The Scottish network now has more than 200 members working at 66 firms.

Shares in Lighthouse closed up 1p at 10.25p.