Hargreaves Lansdown Reports Drop in Half-Year Profit

Hargreaves Lansdown, a London-listed retail-investment platform, revealed a decrease in pretax profit for the first half of its fiscal year, citing one-off costs associated with restructuring. Despite a rise in revenue, the company cautioned that it anticipates a challenging environment to persist into fiscal 2024.

Financial Performance Highlights

• Pretax Profit: Reported at 182.5 million pounds, down from GBP197.6 million in the same period last year.
• Exceptional Items: Including an impairment charge of GBP14.4 million and GBP2.9 million in restructuring costs.
• Adjusted Pretax Profit: Increased by 5% to GBP221.5 million.
• Revenue: Rose to GBP368.2 million from GBP350 million.
• New Business: Declined to GBP1 billion from GBP1.6 billion.
• Total Assets Under Administration: Reached a record GBP142.2 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.

Dividend and Client Growth

• Interim Dividend: Raised to 13.2 pence per share.
• Client Growth: Added 20,000 new clients, totaling 1.82 million.

Future Outlook

Hargreaves Lansdown remains cautious about the economic landscape, expecting investor confidence to be impacted. The company anticipates revenue margin to align with guidance and shares performance to be influenced by dealing volumes.

At 0813 GMT, shares dropped by 5.5% to 752.2 pence.