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(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Deutsche Bank lifted their target price for AJ Bell from 600p to 675p on Tuesday as they updated the stock's valuation to reflect improved distribution economics.
Deutsche Bank said AJ Bell was deliberately investing more heavily in distribution, particularly in its directtoconsumer channel, to drive future customer growth - a strategy the analysts said was delivering, with direct-to-consumer customer numbers rising 31% year-on-year in the first hald and 25% in FY25.
The German bank said the economics of this investment remained attractive, estimating distribution spend of around 314 per net new platform client in H1, compared with a typical D2C customer contribution of roughly 230 per year for eight-to-nine years.
DB, which kept a 'buy' rating on the stock, added that the approach was measured, with management still effectively running the business to a roughly 40% pre-tax profit margin, and supported by what it described as exceptional incremental revenues from transactional charges and interest on uninvested client cash.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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