DSW Capital PLC on Thursday reported a swing to profit for financial 2023 as costs dropped, and announced loans to support a recovery business.

The Warrington, England-based independent financial advisory firm posted revenue of £2.7 million for the year ended on March 31, unchanged year-on-year.

It swung to a pretax profit of £715,000 from a loss of £31,000, as operating profit rose to £657,000 from £74,000 the year before.

Administrative expenses decreased to £2.4 million from £3.0 million.

Chief Executive Officer James Dow said ‘While the outcome for [financial 2023] was not what we expected, at the start of the financial year, we are pleased with the progress the Group has made in other areas. Our investment in building a strong infrastructure to support our growth continued and we have significantly enhanced our recruitment capabilities despite the tough market; remaining greedy whilst others are fearful. This approach has served us well to date and we are confident that we will benefit from this investment in subsequent trading periods.’

DSW declared a final dividend of 2.0p per share, down 45% from 3.66p a year prior. This takes the total dividend for financial 2023 to 3.76 pence, down 11% from 4.22p a year prior.

Looking ahead, it said trading performance for financial 2024 to date is at similar levels to the fourth quarter of financial 2023. The company added that it has optimism and remains excited about the long-term prospects.

Additionally, DSW said it provided loans totalling £880,000, of which £100,000 will be a working capital loan, to support the management buyout of Bridgewood Financial Solutions Ltd. Bridgewood is a corporate recovery business.

‘Bridgewood will become part of the DSW Network, rebranding as DSW Bridgewood, and DSW Capital will receive licence fee income for the use of the DSW brand,’ the firm said.

DSW said as a licensor, it will receive interest income, a licence fee and a share of its profits.

Shares were down 5.1% at 65.00 pence each on Thursday morning.

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