Perpetual's corporate trust division reported lower revenue and profit before tax in the six months to December, despite strong growth in its funds under administration.Perpetual Corporate Trust, which is the dominant provider of trustee services in the securitisation market, reported revenue of A$25.3 million in the December half - down two per cent on the previous corresponding period and down three per cent on the June half last year.The division's profit before tax was $8.6 million - down from $8.7 million in the previous corresponding period and $8.7 million in the June half.New issuance of asset-backed securities doubled in 2012, driven by the opening of the covered bond market in Australia. Perpetual is the trustee for five of the six covered bond programs launched last year. The division's funds under administration rose 15 per cent over the last six months and stand at $248.5 billion. The biggest growth area was in covered bonds.However, Perpetual earns a lower margin for acting as trustee for covered bond issuers and this constrained its revenue growth.But prospects for better times ahead look good. The division has picked up eight new trust management mandates.And it has signed up the first three clients for new business MARQ, which is an analytical service designed for issuers and investors in the securitisation market.Perpetual has rationalised its corporate trust business over the past year. In June, it sold its mortgage processing business, PLMS, and in January it sold a small mortgage servicing business (reported divisional earnings have been adjusted to exclude a small amount of PLMS earnings post-June 30). Perpetual's chief executive, Geoff Lloyd, said the division was now focused on what he called "corporate fiduciary opportunities".