Hargreaves Lansdown plc (LON:HL) today issued a trading update in respect of the three months ended 30 September 2024.
Total revenue in the quarter amounted to £196.5 million, up from £183.8 million, registered in Q1 2024. The rise reflected increased dealing volumes and higher platform revenue from higher AUA levels, more than offsetting the year on year reduction in revenue on cash from a lower net interest margin.
AUA finished the quarter at £157.3 billion driven by positive market movement of £1.5 billion and net new business of £0.5 billion (Q1 2024: £0.6bn).
Net client growth was 18,000 in the quarter (Q1 2024: 8,000) driven by net new clients in the SIPP, ISA and Active Savings accounts. Client retention was at 92.0% (Q1 2024: 91.7%) and asset retention at 88.6% (Q1 2024: 89.0%) with both metrics below HL’s medium to longer term ambitions.
Share dealing volumes averaged 738,000 per month in the quarter (Q1 2024: 634,000), with overseas deal volumes representing 20.2% of total deals in the quarter (Q1 2024: 18.3%).
Client cash balances closed at £12.7 billion (Q1 2024: £12.4bn) with the increase driven by net selling of investments by clients in September.
Dan Olley, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“The proposed acquisition of Hargreaves Lansdown has been approved by shareholders and is now subject to certain outstanding regulatory approvals, with completion expected in Q1 2025. In the meantime, we remain as committed as ever to supporting our clients with the very best service, experience and value, and on executing our strategy. We are particularly mindful of tomorrow’s Budget, and will be on hand to support and guide our clients following any potential changes that are made.
“With millions of households without enough saved to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle in later life, it has never been more important for the UK to save and invest for their financial futures, and as the UK’s largest platform for retail investors HL is well placed to help them do so.”
