Speaking on the morning the FTSE 100 fell sharply following a drop in American and Asian stocks, Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) chief executive Chris Hill says its sharedealing service was experiencing one of its busiest days since the referendum result. After all, although plenty of investors unwind positions, some people will see opportunity in a market correction, he says.
Fund and share accounts on Hargreaves’ Vantage platform recovered following the prevailing investor nerviness following the EU referendum, with group net new business up 43 per cent to £3.34bn. Net revenue on both shares and funds was up around a fifth to £43m and £98m, respectively. Digital marketing was stepped up, adding a further 61,000 active clients and taking the total past the 1m-mark.
What’s more, clients are increasingly consolidating their wealth, sending recurring revenue up almost a fifth. However, an increase in average assets under administration meant net revenue margins on funds and sharedealing accounts declined slightly, due to the tiered structure of fees.
Analysts at Numis expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £296m, giving EPS of 50.7p during the 12 months to June 2018 (up from £266m and 44.6p in 2017).
| HARGREAVES LANSDOWN (HL.) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,776p | MARKET VALUE: | £8.42bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,775.5-1,777.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,935p | LOW: 1,258p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.7% | PE RATIO: | 42 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 70p | NET CASH: | £275m | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 185 | 131 | 25 | 8.6 |
| 2017 | 216 | 147 | 22.4 | 10.1 |
| % change | +17 | +12 | -10 | +17 |
| Ex-div: | 15 Feb | |||
| Payment: | 09 Mar |
