Hargreaves Lansdown delivers record £72m profits

Investment manager Hargreaves Lansdown today said it delivered record underlying profits of £72m in the second half of last year.

Revenue in the period was £112.9m, up 16% on H2 2011, although total net business inflows of £1.16bn were down from £1.34bn a year earlier. Total assets under administration now stand at £23.4bn.

Its underlying profit excludes a £3m FSCS levy and other one-off expenses. The group's profit after taxation was £52.9m, up from £40.6m in the corresponding six months last year.

Hargreaves said the largest increase in revenue was through its Vantage service, where income was up almost 20% to £87m.

Ian Gorham, chief executive, said: "In spite of unfavourable conditions and lower investment values, we continued to see healthy net business inflow, only marginally down on our record previous year, and we welcomed 16,000 new clients to the Vantage service.

"In addition to delivering record revenues and profits we have improved our competitiveness, reduced charges and improved the functionality of our systems.

"Lower stockbroking fees and ISA management charges were introduced from 1 August 2011, which has led to a rise in our share of the UK stockbroking market during the period.

"We have continued to see flows of business from competitors which is an emphatic confirmation of our strong market position."