Platform market 'may never be profitable'

The platform industry will struggle to ever break even as a whole, according to research into firms' financial stability.

Total revenues have more than doubled since 2006, according to consultancy Altus - £710m, up from £330m. But costs have increased at a more dramatic rate - £365m to £730m - leading to the possibility the gap will continue to widen, said Altus director Kevin Okell. "Market forces will change revenues for the worse over the next few years," he said, with competition, the likely rebate ban, lack of legacy assets and institutional pricing all driving down margins. "Unbundled models will see pressure as we expose the sticker price to the client, and some of the [legacy] assets we though...