YBR aiming for 300 branches
Yellow Brick Road will add close to another 100 branches as it builds its distribution network to full strength. The financial products distribution company has set a target of 300 branches - up from the 206 it had at the end of June.In an investor presentation yesterday, YBR said it had completed the development of its product suite and was working on training its sales force to move from selling mortgages to advising on the full suite of products.Forty-one per cent of branch network sales staff are accredited to provide full credit and personal advice to clients.The product range includes superannuation, self-managed superannuation administration, life insurance, general insurance, cash management, credit cards and term deposits.Mortgage revenue is still the core business of the branches but wealth management product sales now account for 33 per cent of branch revenue.YBR made a loss of A$8.7 million in the year to June, compared with a loss of $6.6 million the previous year. Revenue increased by 27.3 per cent to $31.7 million. However, some expense items grew faster; commissions and consultancy expenses were up 42.7 per cent to $19.4 million.The company has set a goal of reporting its maiden profit in 2014/15.The company made two acquisitions this year - mortgage aggregator Vow Financial and mortgage originator Resi Mortgage Corp. With the addition of the Resi and Vow mortgage books, YBR's mortgage portfolio is worth $24.9 billion.YBR said it was "scoping" other acquisitions.