By Charlie Conchie
Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown surged nearly 10 per cent today after the retail investment platform beat analyst estimates last week with pre-tax profits of £269.2m.
Shares hit a two and a half month high on Friday after the firm announced half-year results, before continuing their climb to rise the fastest of the FTSE-100 today, currently trading at 959p per share.
The profits beat prompted analysts at Barclays to hike their forecasts for the firm on Friday, as they lifted earnings per share estimates by 15 per cent and the target price for the stock to 1225p.
The share price boost comes despite Hargreaves being rocked by volatility and suffering a nine per cent drop in assets under administration to £123.8bn, with revenues slumping eight per cent year-on-year to £583m .
Profits topped a company compiled consensus of analysts by five per cent, but fell 26 per cent on last year when the firm was buoyed by a frenzy of retail trending brought on by the pandemic.
Hargreaves boss Chris Hill said Hargreaves had weathered a “macroeconomic and geopolitical climate not seen in a generation” with subdued flows and lower activity across wealth management.
“Our focus is firmly on servicing our clients, disciplined cost management and delivering our strategy because we remain confident that it will deliver outstanding client service, strong shareholder returns and market leadership for HL,” he said.
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