There have been some major boardroom changes at Hargreaves Lansdown but no change in the investment manager's stellar performance, with fee and commission income, profits and EPS all at record levels.
The group's co-founders are both stepping back from their roles; Stephen Lansdown as chairman in December and Peter Hargreaves as chief executive, the latter replaced by chief operating officer Ian Gorman. However, both retain a role as non-executive and executive directors respectively, and between they retain a majority shareholding.
Demand for Hargreaves Lansdown's services has grown significantly, not only because of uncertainty over company pension schemes, but also because much of the competition is "rubbish", according to Mr Hargreaves. The company's ability to generate new business is reflected in the record increase in new clients, which rose by 48,000 to 330,000. And while total assets under administration was 47 per cent ahead at £17.5bn, this does not fully reflect the higher customer base, because new clients typically take time to fully commit themselves. Even so, net business inflows still rose almost two thirds to £3.3bn.
Numis Securities is forecasting 2011 adjusted pre-tax profits of £119m and EPS of 18.3p (2010: £90.6m/14p), rising to £147m and 22.9p, respectively, in 2012.
| HARGREAVES LANSDOWN (HL.) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 391p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.9bn | |
| TOUCH: | 390-391p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 409p | LOW: 236p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.2% | PE RATIO: | 30 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 14p | NET CASH**: | £61.5m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p*) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 1.81 |
| 2007 | 24.4 | 3.6 | 3.00 |
| 2008 | 60.9 | 9.1 | 5.49 |
| 2009 | 73.1 | 11.2 | 7.29 |
| 2010 | 86.3 | 13.2 | 8.58 |
| % change | +18 | +18 | +18 |
Ex-div: 08 Sep Payment: 29 Sep *Excludes special dividends (2.324p in 2008, 2.807p in 2009 and 3.3p in 2010) **Excludes £9.7m of restricted cash | |||
