Hargreaves Lansdown has reported an influx of new business in the year to the end of June as retail investors turned to stock trading during the pandemic.
The platform has warned, however, that the surge and resulting influence on its takings is unlikely to last.
In the first six months of 2021, the platform posted £8.7bn of net new business and signed up 233,000 net new clients.
The increasing interest in investing and saving during the pandemic also boosted Hargreaves Lansdown’s revenue during the period, which grew 15% to £631m.
The company’s CEO, Chris Hill (pictured), said the younger mix of clients that have come on board during the pandemic underpins the company’s future growth.
“Their investment behaviours mirror the trends of previous cohorts: we know what they need from our 40-year track record of supporting clients through their financial lives. As we work with these new clients on similar paths, the lifetime value of our overall client base will increase,” he said.
The company’s pre-tax profit took a hit during the period, falling 3% to £366m when compared to 2020, driven by higher costs.
Similarly, despite having hiked its dividend by 6% in February, the company announced that the total dividend for the year was down 8% to 50.5p.
