Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) has issued a trading update for the year ended December 31, 2023, ahead of its final results publication on March 19, 2024.

The Group now expects to report an adjusted profit before tax that is slightly ahead of the current market consensus. Despite a challenging market with a 28% reduction in gross new mortgage lending for 2023, MAB increased its revenue for the year by 4% to around £239 million.

The total number of advisers at the year-end was down 4% to 2,158, and the average number of mainstream advisers during the year was down 2%.

The current trading outlook is encouraging, with early signs of increased purchase activity and refinancing as fixed-rate mortgage costs reduced at the end of the previous year.