Mortgage Advice Bureau bosses have claimed the business is in a strong position despite a flat market.
In a pre-close trading update, issued today (22 January) the intermediary business reported that revenue was up 17 per cent to to £109m driven by a 14 per cent increase in the average number of advisers to 1,008 in the 12 months to 31 December 2017.
The company had also seen an increase in average revenue per adviser of 3 per cent, which it said demonstrated "a return to growth in productivity as anticipated following the lull in activity in the housing and mortgage markets surrounding the European Union referendum in 2016".
But Peter Brodnicki, chief executive of Mortgage Advice Bureau, said activity levels remain relatively flat in the housing and mortgage markets and are forecast to remain so over the next few years, with an increase in first-time buyers countering a flat home mover market and a weaker buy-to-let purchase market.
Mr Brodnicki revealed it wasn't all doom and gloom though as remortgaging and product switch activity remained on the increase.
He said: "We are confident that our strategy, driven by our customers' future direction of travel, will continue to drive growth in MAB's market share year-on-year and deliver attractive returns to investors.”
The group declared profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2017 was in line with the board's expectations.
At 31 December 2017 it had £22m in cash including £13m of unrestricted cash balances.
