Steadfast Group is on course to achieve the 2019/20 earnings targets it had set until the pandemic broke out in March, forcing the broker to discard the guidance.

Trading conditions remained strong in June, continuing a period of solid business growth since the introduction of lockdown measures to contain the virus grounded the economy to a virtual halt.

Unaudited preliminary figures suggest earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) will be at the top end of its pre-virus guidance of $215-225 million, Steadfast said in an update last week.

The broker will release its financial results for the year to June 30 on August 26.

Since the virus outbreak was declared a pandemic in March, Steadfast has been providing regular updates of its trading results. In the previous update, the broker said EBITA for the 11 months to May remained in line with pre-virus expectations.

In the December half, Steadfast recorded a 39.1% rise in underlying net profit after tax to $53.2 million while EBITDA, also on an underlying basis, increased 27.5% to $108.9 million.