The share price of Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL) is currently down close to 4%, despite the company announcing some record figures in a trading statement this morning.
Hargreaves Lansdown says that it has had record net inflows of £2.75bn in the four months to 30 April 2015, with a cumulative total net inflow of £5.00 billion in the ten months to 30 April 2015 (although that’s actually 6.2% down on the previous comparable period).
The company goes on to say that an increase of £6.2bn Assets under Administration (AUA) over the same period has boosted its total AUA to a record level of £55.3bn — 22% higher than a year ago. It also reports that net new active “Vantage” accounts are up by 40,000 in the four months to 30 April, with “continued high client and asset retention rates“, which are of 93.4% and 92.7% respectively.
Hargreaves Lansdown says that the new “pension freedoms”, which have been available to the public since 6 April, have been a success, and that even though new assets of all types for the period 11 January to 5 April were a record any similar period, there has been a particular interest in pensions since 6 April.
Looking at the overall market, the company says its results are “particularly pleasing“, and that it has had “a very successful time” in what it describes as “a sluggish wider environment” — according to the Investment Association, net retail sales through UK fund platforms for the three months to 31 March 2015 were down 39% compared the same period last year.
Commenting on the trading statement, CEO Ian Gorham said:
“Hargreaves Lansdown has always aimed to be the best for overall value. Although never complacent, we remain happy with our current strong position. We will keep the marketplace and feedback from our clients under review to ensure we remain the best value place for the UK public to buy investments.“
Even with today’s dip, at 1,231.5p, Hargreaves Lansdown’s share price is up 6.4% so far this year, compared to a 2.9% rise in the FSTE 100. And over the longer term, Hargreaves Lansdown has left the index trailing, with a share price rise of 243% over the past five years — over seven times more than the FTSE 100’s 33% gain in the same time.
