4th Feb 2015 07:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - Hargreaves Lansdown PLC Wednesday reported a drop in first-half pretax profit despite a rise in assets under administration over the course of the six months, in what it described as a "muted" time for stocks and retail investors.
In a statement, the investment management product provider said pretax profit declined to GBP101.9 million in the six months ended December 31 from GBP104.1 million in the corresponding period last year. Assets under administration rose to GBP49.1 billion at the end of 2014, from GBP46.9 billion six months earlier and GBP43.4 billion at the same stage last year.
"In a muted 6 months for both stock markets and retail investing, Hargreaves Lansdown has managed to buck the trend with GBP2.25 billion of net new assets and further growth in clients to 675,000. We now look forward to the important tax year end period, and the introduction of exciting new pension freedoms on 6 April 2015," Chief Executive Ian Gorham said in a statement.
Hargreaves Lansdown raised its interim dividend to 7.3 pence per share from 7.0 pence per share.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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