Stockbroker and investment platform AJ Bell has revealed a record-breaking profit haul after completing its first year as a public company.

The group, which floated last December, saw pre-tax profits surge by a third to £37.7 million in the year to September 30, on sales up 17% to £104.9 million.

It cheered a 17% rise in retail customers to 232,066, as its two flagship platforms proved popular with investors.

This also helped assets under management swell by 13% to £52.3 billion, with AJ Bell shrugging off volatile market conditions as stocks have been buffeted by global trade worries.

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AJ Bell has seen shares rise by more than 75% since it listed on the London stock market a year ago.

The stock has eased back after its stellar run and was down 4% after the full-year figures on Thursday.

Andy Bell, chief executive at AJ Bell, said: "These results are a strong endorsement of the business model and growth strategy that we outlined in the run up to our IPO a year ago."

AJ Bell also announced plans to share its success with charitable causes.

It is launching a new share option plan that will pay out about £10 million to charities if it can boost earnings per share by 100% over three years and 150% in five years.

The amount that banks are lending to business is growing slower than at any point in the last five years as Brexit and other political uncertainty weighs on the market, new data reveals.

Growth is expected to hit just 2.1% in 2020, the smallest increase since 2015.

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Companies that rely on trade with the European Union are likely to be sitting tight in the wait for more clarity on Brexit, said Omar Ali, a partner at accountancy firm EY, which compiled the data.

This is unlikely to change soon, he added.

"Even if the withdrawal deal is ratified early next year, this won't get rid of the uncertainty entirely as the UK's future relationship with the EU will still need to be worked out," he said.

It comes as household income in real terms grew by a fairly healthy 2% this year, and is expected to expand by 1.7% in 2020.

This is not filtering through to consumer credit though, which is forecast to grow by 3.8% this year, its weakest growth since 2013, and down from a peak of 8.3% in 2017.

Demand for new cars fell 1.3% last month, the automotive industry said.

Some 2,018 fewer cars were registered in November than during the same month in 2018, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

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This maintains the downward trend for new car registrations throughout 2019 as the industry has been hit by weak business and consumer confidence, economic uncertainty and confusion over diesel and clean air zones, the trade association said.

The decline was driven by a 6.1% drop in demand from private consumers.

Sales of diesel models were down 27.2%, while demand for petrol cars grew by 2.0%.

Alternatively fuelled cars such as hybrids and battery electrics took a record market share for the second consecutive month.

More than one in 10 cars joining the UK roads was either hybrid, plug-in hybrid or pure electric.