19th Jul 2024 15:40
(Alliance News) - Hargreaves Lansdown PLC on Friday reported record assets under management, beating expectations, with eyes also peeled on what's next in the M&A saga that has shrouded the investment platform operator.
HL said in the fourth quarter that ended on June 30, closing assets under administration reached a record figure, rising 16% to GBP155.3 billion from GBP134.0 billion the same time last year.
In total GBP1.6 billion net new business was secured. Within this, GBP900 million of new business was generated by the Hargreaves Lansdown Platform, with the remaining GBP700 million attributed to Active Savings.
Net new clients increased 85% to 24,000 from 13,000, bringing the number of total active clients to approximately 1.9 million from 1.8 million the previous year.
"This compares to AJ Bell which reported 22,000 net new D2C platform clients for the same quarter, or 15,000 excluding a small portfolio acquisition, taking it to total 360,000 D2C platform clients," UBS analysts noted.
UBS said the assets under management outcome was 1.2% above consensus of GBP153.4 billion. The GBP1.6 billion net new business beat consensus of GBP1.5 billion.
The firm also said the deadline for a takeover offer has been extended. The deadline for a private equity consortium to make an offer for Hargreaves was extended to August 5 from July 19.
In June, the consortium, led by CVC Capital Partners, issued a revised proposal to acquire Hargreaves for 1,140 pence per share, of which 30p comprises the final dividend for 2024. Hargreaves previously rejected a 985p per share offer on the grounds that it "substantially undervalued" the company.
UBS added: "As such, results today are less relevant to the share price than usual, with greater focus on the next step in the bid process."
Shares in HL were up 0.4% to 1,112.00p in London on Friday afternoon.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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