Hargreaves Lansdown profits surge

Hargreaves Lansdown today reported an 18% increase in profits over the past year to reach record levels, as Britain's biggest retail broker benefited from a big increase in funds under management and a more buoyant stock market. Savers facing historically low interest rates have been seeking out better returns elsewhere, leading to "unprecedented" levels of new business. In the year to the end of June, the firm, which is also a fund manager, took in £3.3bn of net investment, up 65% on the previous year. It made pre-tax profits for the year of £86.3m, up from £73.1m, while revenue increased by 20% to £159m. Peter Hargreaves, the chief executive, who is stepping down from running the company he co-founded 30 years ago, said the performance was "all the more impressive given the uncertainty that we have faced throughout the year". Stephen Lansdown gave up the chairmanship in December and last month was appointed a non-executive director. Hargreaves, who is being replaced by Ian Gorham tomorrow, will also remain a non-executive director. The firm said total assets under management had increased by 47% during the year to £17.5bn, aided in part by improving stock markets – the FTSE All-Share moved 17% higher during the period. Hargreaves said it had begun the year with "more trepidation than for many years", adding that the "only glimmer of light … was that low interest rates were driving investors to examine other forms of income producing assets". He said that moving into the current year, he took heart from the increasing amounts of earnings that people in the UK were now saving.