LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown reported an uptick in first-quarter assets under management on Friday but a dip in revenue as share dealing volumes declined following lockdown.
In the three months to 30 September, AUM rose to £138bn from £106.9bn in the same period a year ago. However, revenues edged down 1% to £142.2m.

HL said asset-based revenues were higher, driven by net inflows and positive market movements as demonstrated by the FTSE All Share, which was up 23% versus the comparative period. "However this was more than offset by previous guidance of a drop in interest on client money and a reduction in share dealing revenues," it said.

The company said that as expected, share dealing volumes have fallen following Covid lockdowns, averaging 861,000 deals a month across the quarter compared to 980,000 in the quarter last year and 479,000 in 2019. This is around 40,000 deals a day, line with the guidance given for this year.

Net new business during the quarter rose to £1.3bn from £0.8bn the year before, driven by higher client numbers, ongoing wealth consolidation onto its platform and flows into Active Savings. HL said this was "a pleasing result" given the seasonal quieter summer period and the easing of Covid restrictions.

Hargreaves added 23,000 new clients in the quarter, taking the active client number to 1,667,000.

Chief executive Chris Hill said: "Today we report a good start to our financial year, with continued growth in clients and assets in what is typically our quietest quarter. The client retention rate remains solid at 92.6% and we continue to see new clients build wealth, diversify holdings and engage with the proposition.

"These results are against the backdrop of an easing out of lockdown and ongoing market uncertainty and highlight the importance of a resilient business and the strength of our proposition. The normalisation of revenues post pandemic is in line with our expectations and our focus, as always, remains on our clients, and their lifelong needs."

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